Backhaul link for distributed antenna system

ABSTRACT

A distributed antenna and backhaul system provide network connectivity for a small cell deployment. Rather than building new structures, and installing additional fiber and cable, embodiments described herein disclose using high-bandwidth, millimeter-wave communications and existing power line infrastructure. Above ground backhaul connections via power lines and line-of-sight millimeter-wave band signals as well as underground backhaul connections via buried electrical conduits can provide connectivity to the distributed base stations. An overhead millimeter-wave system can also be used to provide backhaul connectivity. Modules can be placed onto existing infrastructure, such as streetlights and utility poles, and the modules can contain base stations and antennas to transmit the millimeter-waves to and from other modules.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/788,994, filed Jul. 1, 2015, which is a continuation of andclaims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/274,638, filedMay 9, 2014 (now U.S. Pat. No. 9,119,127), which is a continuation ofand claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/705,690,filed Dec. 5, 2012 (now U.S. Pat. No. 9,113,347). All sections of theaforementioned applications are incorporated herein by reference intheir entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The subject disclosure relates to wireless communications and moreparticularly to providing backhaul connectivity to distributed antennasand base stations.

BACKGROUND

As smart phones and other portable devices increasingly becomeubiquitous, and data usage skyrockets, macrocell base stations andexisting wireless infrastructure are being overwhelmed. To provideadditional mobile bandwidth, small cell deployment is being pursued,with microcells and picocells providing coverage for much smaller areasthan traditional macrocells, but at high expense.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a distributed antenna system in accordance with variousaspects described herein.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a backhaul system in accordance with various aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a distributed antenna system in accordance with variousaspects described herein.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a distributed antenna system in accordance with variousaspects described herein.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a backhaul system in accordance with various aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a backhaul system in accordance with various aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a quasi-optical coupling in accordance with variousaspects described herein.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a backhaul system in accordance with various aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a millimeter band antenna apparatus in accordance withvarious aspects described herein.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of an underground backhaul system in accordance with variousaspects described herein.

FIG. 11 illustrates a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method for providing a backhaul connection as describedherein.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of an example, non-limiting embodiment of acomputing environment in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of an example, non-limiting embodiment of amobile network platform in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

FIG. 14A is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a communication system in accordance with various aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 14B is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a portion of the communication system of FIG. 14A inaccordance with various aspects described herein.

FIGS. 14C-14D are block diagrams illustrating example, non-limitingembodiments of a communication node of the communication system of FIG.14A in accordance with various aspects described herein.

FIG. 15A is a graphical diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of downlink and uplink communication techniques for enablinga base station to communicate with communication nodes in accordancewith various aspects described herein.

FIG. 15B is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a communication node in accordance with various aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 15C is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a communication node in accordance with various aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 15D is a graphical diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a frequency spectrum in accordance with various aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 15E is a graphical diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a frequency spectrum in accordance with various aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 15F is a graphical diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a frequency spectrum in accordance with various aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 15G is a graphical diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a frequency spectrum in accordance with various aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 15H is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a transmitter in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

FIG. 15I is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a receiver in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

FIG. 16A illustrates a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

FIG. 16B illustrates a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

FIG. 16C illustrates a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

FIG. 16D illustrates a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

FIG. 16E illustrates a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

FIG. 16F illustrates a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

FIG. 16G illustrates a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

FIG. 16H illustrates a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

FIG. 16I illustrates a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

FIG. 16J illustrates a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

FIG. 16K illustrates a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

One or more embodiments are now described with reference to thedrawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to likeelements throughout. In the following description, for purposes ofexplanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to providea thorough understanding of the various embodiments. It is evident,however, that the various embodiments can be practiced without thesespecific details (and without applying to any particular networkedenvironment or standard).

To provide network connectivity to additional base stations, thebackhaul network that links the microcells and macrocells to the mobilenetwork correspondingly expands. Providing a wireless backhaulconnection is difficult due to the limited bandwidth available atcommonly used frequencies. Fiber and cable have bandwidth, butinstalling the connections can be cost prohibitive due to thedistributed nature of small cell deployment.

For these considerations as well as other considerations, in one or moreembodiments, a system includes a memory to store instructions and aprocessor, communicatively coupled to the memory to facilitate executionof the instructions to perform operations including facilitating receiptof a first guided wave received via a power line and converting thefirst guided wave to an electronic transmission. The operations alsoinclude facilitating transmission of an electronic signal determinedfrom the electronic transmission to a base station device. Theoperations can also include converting the electronic transmission intoa second guided wave, and facilitating transmission of the second guidedwave via the power line.

Another embodiment includes a memory to store instructions and aprocessor, communicatively coupled to the memory to facilitate executionof the instructions to perform operations including facilitating receiptof a first transmission from a first radio repeater device. Theoperations can include directing a second transmission to a second radiorepeater device wherein the first and second transmissions are at afrequency of at least about 57 GHz. The operations also includedetermining an electronic signal from the first transmission anddirecting the electronic signal to a base station device.

In another embodiment, a method includes receiving, by a deviceincluding a processor, a first surface wave transmission via a powerline and converting the first surface wave transmission into anelectronic transmission. The method can also include extracting acommunication signal from the electronic transmission and sending thecommunication signal to a base station device. The method can alsoinclude transmitting the electronic transmission as a second surfacewave transmission over the power line wherein the first surface wavetransmission and the second surface wave transmission are at a frequencyof at least 30 GHz.

Various embodiments described herein relate to a system that provides adistributed antenna system for a small cell deployment and/or a backhaulconnection for a small cell deployment. Rather than building newstructures, and installing additional fiber and cable, embodimentsdescribed herein disclose using high-bandwidth, millimeter-wavecommunications and existing power line infrastructure. Above groundbackhaul connections via power lines and line of sight millimeter-waveband signals as well as underground backhaul connections via buriedelectrical conduits can provide connectivity to the distributed basestations.

In an embodiment, an overhead millimeter-wave system can be used toprovide backhaul connectivity. Modules can be placed onto existinginfrastructure, such as streetlights and utility poles, and the modulescan contain base stations and antennas to transmit the millimeter wavesto and from other modules. One of the modules, or nodes, in the networkcan be communicably coupled, either by fiber/cable, or by a standard57-64 Ghz GHz line-of-sight microwave connection to a macrocell sitethat is physically connected to the mobile network.

In another embodiment, base station nodes can be installed on utilitypoles, and the backhaul connection can be provided by transmitters thatsend millimeter-wave band surface wave transmissions via the power linesbetween nodes. A single site with one or more base stations can also beconnected via the surface wave transmission over power lines to adistributed antenna system, with cellular antennas located at the nodes.In another embodiment, underground conduits can be used to transmitguided waves, with the waves propagating in the empty space between theconduit and the power lines. Signal extractors and base stations can beplaced in existing transformer boxes.

Turning now to FIG. 1, illustrated is an example, non-limitingembodiment of a distributed antenna system 100 in accordance withvarious aspects described herein.

Distributed antenna system 100 includes one or more base stations (e.g.,base station device 104) that are communicably coupled to a macrocellsite 102. Base station device 104 can be connected by fiber and/orcable, or by a microwave wireless connection to macrocell site 102.Macrocells such as macrocell site 102 can have dedicated connections tothe mobile network and base station device 104 can piggy back off ofmacrocell site 102's connection. Base station device 104 can be mountedon, or attached to, utility pole 116. In other embodiments, base stationdevice 104 can be near transformers and/or other locations situatednearby a power line.

Base station device 104 can provide connectivity for mobile devices 122and 124. Antennas 112 and 114, mounted on or near utility poles 118 and120 can receive signals from base station device 104 and transmit thosesignals to mobile devices 122 and 124 over a much wider area than if theantennas 112 and 114 were located at or near base station device 104.

It is to be appreciated that FIG. 1 displays three utility poles, withone base station device, for purposes of simplicity. In otherembodiments, utility pole 116 can have more base station devices, andone or more utility poles with distributed antennas are possible.

A launcher 106 can transmit the signal from base station device 104 toantennas 112 and 114 over a power line(s) that connect the utility poles116, 118, and 120. To transmit the signal, launcher 106 upconverts thesignal from base station device 104 to a millimeter-wave band signal andthe launcher 106 can include a cone transceiver (shown in FIG. 3 in moredetail) that launches a millimeter-wave band surface wave thatpropagates as a guided wave traveling along the wire. At utility pole118, a repeater 108 receives the surface wave and can amplify it andsend it forward on the power line. The repeater 108 can also extract asignal from the millimeter-wave band surface wave and shift it down infrequency to its original cellular band frequency (e.g. 1.9 GHz). Anantenna can transmit the downshifted signal to mobile device 122. Theprocess can be repeated by repeater 110, antenna 114 and mobile device124.

Transmissions from mobile devices 122 and 124 can also be received byantennas 112 and 114 respectively. The repeaters 108 and 110 can upshiftthe cellular band signals to millimeter-wave band (e.g., 60-110 GHz) andtransmit the signals as surface wave transmissions over the powerline(s) to base station device 104.

Turning now to FIG. 2, a block diagram illustrating an example,non-limiting embodiment of a backhaul system 200 in accordance withvarious aspects described herein is shown. The embodiment shown in FIG.2 differs from FIG. 1 in that rather than having a distributed antennasystem with base station devices located in one place and having remoteantennas, the base station devices themselves are distributed throughthe system, and the backhaul connection is provided by surface wavetransmissions over the power lines.

System 200 includes an RF modem 202 that receives a network connectionvia a physical or wireless connection to existing networkinfrastructure. The network connection can be via fiber and/or cable, orby a high-bandwidth microwave connection. The RF modem can receive thenetwork connection and process it for distribution to base stationdevices 204 and 206. The RF modem 202 can modulate a millimeter-waveband transmission using a protocol such as DOCSIS, and out put thesignal to a launcher 208. Launcher 208 can include a cone (shown in FIG.5 in more detail) that launches a millimeter-wave band surface wave thatpropagates as a guided wave traveling along the wire.

At utility pole 216, a repeater 210 receives the surface wave and canamplify it and send it forward over the power line to repeater 212.Repeater 210 can also include a modem that extracts the signal from thesurface wave, and output the signal to base station device 204. Basestation device 204 can then use the backhaul connection to facilitatecommunications with mobile device 220.

Repeater 212 can receive the millimeter-wave band surface wavetransmission sent by repeater 210, and extract a signal via a modem, andoutput the signal to base station device 206 which can facilitatecommunications with mobile device 222. The backhaul connection can workin reverse as well, with transmissions from mobile devices 220 and 222being received by base station devices 204 and 206 which forward thecommunications via the backhaul network to repeaters 210 and 212.Repeaters 210 and 212 can convert the communications signal to amillimeter-wave band surface wave and transmit it via the power lineback to launcher 208, RF modem 202 and on to the mobile network.

Turning now to FIG. 3, a block diagram illustrating an example,non-limiting embodiment of a distributed antenna system 300 is shown.FIG. 3 shows in more detail the base station 104 and launcher 106described in FIG. 1. A base station device 302 can include a router 304and a microcell 308 (or picocell, femtocell, or other small celldeployment). The base station device 302 can receive an external networkconnection 306 that is linked to existing infrastructure. The networkconnection 306 can be physical (such as fiber or cable) or wireless(high-bandwidth microwave connection). The existing infrastructure thatthe network connection 306 can be linked to, can in some embodiments bemacrocell sites. For those macrocell sites that have high data ratenetwork connections, base station device 302 can share the networkconnection with the macrocell site.

The router 304 can provide connectivity for microcell 308 whichfacilitates communications with the mobile devices. While FIG. 3 showsthat base station device 302 has one microcell, in other embodiments,the base station device 302 can include two or more microcells. The RFoutput of microcell 308 can be used to modulate a 60 GHz signal and beconnected via fiber to a launcher 318. It is to be appreciated thatlauncher 318 and repeater 108 include similar functionality, and anetwork connection 306 can be linked to either launcher 318 or repeater108 (and 106, 110, and etc.).

In other embodiments, the base station device 302 can be coupled tolauncher 318 by a quasi-optical coupling (shown in more detail in FIG.7). Launcher 318 includes a millimeter-wave interface 312 that shiftsthe frequency of the RF output to a millimeter-wave band signal. Thesignal can then be transmitted as a surface wave transmission by conetransceiver 314 over power line 316.

The cone transceiver 314 can generate an electromagnetic field speciallyconfigured to propagate as a guided wave travelling along the wire. Theguided wave, or surface wave, will stay parallel to the wire, even asthe wire bends and flexes. Bends can increase transmission losses, whichare also dependent on wire diameters, frequency, and materials.

The millimeter-wave interface 312 and the cone transceiver 314 can bepowered by inductive power supply 310 that receives power inductivelyfrom the medium voltage or high voltage power line. In otherembodiments, the power can be supplemented by a battery supply.

Turning now to FIG. 4, a block diagram illustrating an example,non-limiting embodiment of a distributed antenna system in accordancewith various aspects described herein is shown. System 400 includes arepeater 402 that has cone transceivers 404 and 412, millimeter-waveinterfaces 406 and 410, as well an inductive power supply 408 andantenna 414.

Transceiver 404 can receive a millimeter-wave band surface wavetransmission sent along a power line. The millimeter-wave interface 406can convert the signal to an electronic signal in a cable or afiber-optic signal and forward the signal to millimeter-wave interface410 and cone transceiver 412 which launch the signal on to the powerline as a surface wave transmission. Millimeter-wave interfaces 406 and410 can also shift the frequency of the signal down and up respectively,between the millimeter-wave band and the cellular band. Antenna 414 cantransmit the signal to mobile devices that are in range of thetransmission.

Antenna 414 can receive return signals from the mobile devices, and passthem to millimeter-wave interfaces 406 and 410 which can shift thefrequency upwards to another frequency band in the millimeter-wavefrequency range. Cone transceivers 404 and 412 can then transmit thereturn signal as a surface wave transmission back to the base stationdevice located near the launcher (e.g. base station device 302).

Referring now to FIG. 5, a block diagram illustrating an example,non-limiting embodiment of a backhaul system 500 in accordance withvarious aspects described herein is shown. Backhaul system 500 shows ingreater detail the RF modem 202 and launcher 208 that are shown in FIG.2. An RF modem 502 can include a router 504 and a modem 508. The RFmodem 502 can receive an external network connection 506 that is linkedto existing infrastructure. The network connection 506 can be physical(such as fiber or cable) or wireless (high-bandwidth microwaveconnection). The existing infrastructure that the network connection 506can be linked to, can in some embodiments be macrocell sites. Sincemacrocell sites already have high data rate network connections, RFmodem 502 can share the network connection with the macrocell site.

The router 504 and modem 508 can modulate a millimeter-wave bandtransmission using a protocol such as DOCSIS, and output the signal to alauncher 516. The RF modem 502 can send the signal to the launcher 516via a fiber or cable link. In some embodiment, RF modem 502 can becoupled to launcher 516 by a quasi-optical coupling (shown in moredetail in FIG. 7).

The launcher 516 can include a millimeter-wave interface 512 that shiftsthe frequency of the RF modem 502 output to a millimeter-wave bandsignal. The signal can then be transmitted as a surface wavetransmission by cone transceiver 514. The cone transceiver 514 cangenerate an electromagnetic field specially configured to propagate as aguided wave travelling along the wire 518. The guided wave, or surfacewave, will stay parallel to the wire, even as the wire bends and flexes.Bends can increase transmission losses, which are also dependent on wirediameters, frequency, and materials.

The millimeter wave interface 512 and the cone transceiver 514 can bepowered by inductive power supply 510 that receives power inductivelyfrom the medium voltage or high voltage power line. In otherembodiments, the power can be supplemented by a battery supply.

FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of an example, non-limiting embodiment of abackhaul system in accordance with various aspects described herein.System 600 includes a repeater 602 that has cone transceivers 604 and612, millimeter-wave interfaces 606 and 610, as well an inductive powersupply 608 and a microcell 614.

Transceiver 604 can receive a millimeter-wave band surface wavetransmission sent along a power line. The millimeter-wave interface 606can convert the signal to an electronic signal in a cable or afiber-optic signal and forward the signal to millimeter-wave interface610 and cone transceiver 612 which launch the signal on to the powerline as a surface wave transmission. Millimeter-wave interfaces 606 and610 can also shift the frequency of the signal up and down, between themillimeter-wave band and the cellular band. The millimeter-waveinterfaces 606 and 610 can also include multiplexers and demultiplexersthat allow for multiplexed signals in the time domain and/or frequencydomain. The millimeter-wave interfaces 606 and 610 can also include amodem that can demodulate the signal using a protocol such as DOCSIS.The signal can then be sent to microcell 614 to facilitatecommunications with a mobile device.

The millimeter wave interfaces 606 and 610 can also include a wirelessaccess point. The wireless access point (e.g., 802.11ac), can enable themicrocell 614 to be located anywhere within range of the wireless accesspoint, and does not need to be physically connected to the repeater 602.

FIG. 7 shows a block diagram of an example, non-limiting embodiment of aquasi-optical coupling 700 in accordance with various aspects describedherein. Specially trained and certified technicians are required to workwith high voltage and medium voltage power lines. Locating the circuitryaway from the high voltage and medium voltage power lines allowsordinary craft technicians to install and maintain the circuitry.Accordingly, this example embodiment is a quasi-optical coupler allowingthe base station and surface wave transmitters to be detached from thepower lines.

At millimeter-wave frequencies, where the wavelength is small comparedto the macroscopic size of the equipment, the millimeter-wavetransmissions can be transported from one place to another and divertedvia lenses and reflectors, much like visible light. Accordingly,reflectors 706 and 708 can be placed and oriented on power line 704 suchthat millimeter-wave band transmissions sent from transmitter 716 arereflected parallel to the power line, such that it is guided by thepower line as a surface wave. Likewise, millimeter-wave band (60 Ghz andgreater for this embodiment) surface waves, sent along the power line704 can be reflected by reflectors 706 and 708 and sent as a collimatedbeam to the dielectric lens 710 and waveguide 718 on a monolithictransmitter integrated circuit 716 which sends the signal to the basestation 712.

The base station 712 and transmitter apparatus 716 can receive powerfrom a transformer 714 that may be part of the existing power companyinfrastructure.

Turning now to FIG. 8, a block diagram illustrating an example,non-limiting embodiment of a backhaul system in accordance with variousaspects described herein is shown. Backhaul system 800 includes a basestation device 808 that receives a network connection via a physical orwireless connection to existing network infrastructure. The networkconnection can be via fiber and/or cable, or by a high bandwidthline-of-sight microwave connection to a nearby macrocell site. The basestation device 808 can include a microcell (or other small celldeployment) that can facilitate communication with mobile device 820.

Radio repeater 802, communicably coupled to base station device 808, cantransmit a millimeter band signal to radio repeater 804. Radio repeater804 can forward the transmission to radio repeater 806 as well, and bothradio repeaters 804 and 806 can share the signal with microcells 810 and812. In this way, the network connection from the existinginfrastructure can be distributed to a mesh network of microcells vialine of sight millimeter band transmissions by radio repeaters.

In some embodiments, the radio repeaters can transmit broadcasts atfrequencies above 100 GHz. A lower gain, broader beamwidth antenna thanconventional millimeter-wave radio links provides high availability atshort link lengths (˜500 ft) while keeping the radio repeaters small andinexpensive.

In some embodiments, the radio repeaters and microcells can be mountedon existing infrastructure such as light poles 814, 816, and 818. Inother embodiments, the radio repeaters and microcells can be mounted onutility poles for power lines, buildings, and other structures.

Turning now to FIG. 9, a block diagram illustrating an example,non-limiting embodiment of a millimeter-wave band antenna apparatus 900in accordance with various aspects described herein is shown. The radiorepeater 904 can have a plastic cover 902 to protect the radio antennas906. The radio repeater 904 can be mounted to a utility pole, lightpole, or other structure 908 with a mounting arm 910. The radio repeatercan also receive power via power cord 912 and output the signal to anearby microcell using fiber or cable 914.

In some embodiments, the radio repeater 904 can include 16 antennas.These antennas can be arranged radially, and each can have approximately24 degrees of azimuthal beamwidth. There can thus be a small overlapbetween each antennas beamwidths. The radio repeater 904, whentransmitting, or receiving transmissions, can automatically select thebest sector antenna to use for the connections based on signalmeasurements such as signal strength, signal to noise ratio, etc. Sincethe radio repeater 904 can automatically select the antennas to use, inone embodiment, precise antenna alignment is not implemented, nor arestringent requirements on mounting structure twist, tilt, and sway.

In some embodiments, the radio repeater 904 can include a microcellwithin the apparatus, thus enabling a self-contained unit to be arepeater on the backhaul network, in addition to facilitatingcommunications with mobile devices. In other embodiments, the radiorepeater can include a wireless access point (e.g. 802.11ac).

Turning now to FIG. 10, a block diagram illustrating an example,non-limiting embodiment of an underground backhaul system in accordancewith various aspects described herein is shown. Pipes, whether they aremetallic or dielectric, can support the transmission of guidedelectromagnetic waves. Thus the distributed antenna backhaul systemsshown in FIGS. 1 and 2, respectively, can be replicated usingunderground conduits 1004 in place of above ground power lines. Theunderground conduits can carry power lines or other cables 1002, and attransformer box 1006 an RF/optical modem can convert (modulate ordemodulate) the backhaul signal to or from the millimeter-wave (40 GHzor greater in an embodiment). A fiber or cable 1010 can carry theconverted backhaul signal to a microcell located nearby.

A single conduit can serve several backhaul connections along its routeby carrying millimeter-wave signals multiplexed in a time domain orfrequency domain fashion.

FIG. 11 illustrates a process in connection with the aforementionedsystems. The process in FIG. 11 can be implemented for example bysystems 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, and 1000 illustrated in FIGS.1-7 and 10 respectively. While for purposes of simplicity ofexplanation, the methods are shown and described as a series of blocks,it is to be understood and appreciated that the claimed subject matteris not limited by the order of the blocks, as some blocks may occur indifferent orders and/or concurrently with other blocks from what isdepicted and described herein. Moreover, not all illustrated blocks maybe required to implement the methods described hereinafter.

FIG. 11 illustrates a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method for providing a backhaul connection as describedherein. At step 1102, a first surface wave transmission is received overa power line. The surface wave transmission can be received by conetransceivers in some embodiments. In other embodiments, reflectors,positioned on the power line can reflect the surface wave to adielectric lens and waveguide that convert the surface wave into anelectronic transmission. At step 1104, the first surface wavetransmission is converted into an electronic transmission. The conetransceiver can receive the electromagnetic wave and convert it into anelectronic transmission that propagates through a circuit.

At step 1106, a communication signal is extracted from the electronictransmission. The communication signal can be extracted using an RFmodem that uses a protocol such as DOCSIS. The RF modem can modulate anddemodulate the electronic signal to extract the communication signal.The communication signal can be a signal received from the mobilenetwork, and can be provided to give network connectivity to adistributed base station.

At 1108, the communication signal can be sent to a base station devicenearby. The communication can be sent over fiber or cable, or can besent wirelessly using Wi-Fi (e.g., 802.11ac).

At 1110, the electronic transmission is transmitted as a second surfacewave transmission over the power line. A second cone transceiver orreflector can launch the surface wave on to the power line to a nextnode in the backhaul system. The first surface wave transmission and thesecond surface wave transmission are at a frequency of at least 30 GHz.

Referring now to FIG. 12, there is illustrated a block diagram of acomputing environment in accordance with various aspects describedherein. For example, in some embodiments, the computer can be or beincluded within the mobile device data rate throttling system 200, 400,500 and/or 600.

In order to provide additional context for various embodiments of theembodiments described herein, FIG. 12 and the following discussion areintended to provide a brief, general description of a suitable computingenvironment 1200 in which the various embodiments of the embodimentdescribed herein can be implemented. While the embodiments have beendescribed above in the general context of computer-executableinstructions that can run on one or more computers, those skilled in theart will recognize that the embodiments can be also implemented incombination with other program modules and/or as a combination ofhardware and software.

Generally, program modules include routines, programs, components, datastructures, etc., that perform particular tasks or implement particularabstract data types. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciatethat the inventive methods can be practiced with other computer systemconfigurations, including single-processor or multiprocessor computersystems, minicomputers, mainframe computers, as well as personalcomputers, hand-held computing devices, microprocessor-based orprogrammable consumer electronics, and the like, each of which can beoperatively coupled to one or more associated devices.

The terms “first,” “second,” “third,” and so forth, as used in theclaims, unless otherwise clear by context, is for clarity only anddoesn't otherwise indicate or imply any order in time. For instance, “afirst determination,” “a second determination,” and “a thirddetermination,” does not indicate or imply that the first determinationis to be made before the second determination, or vice versa, etc.

The illustrated embodiments of the embodiments herein can be alsopracticed in distributed computing environments where certain tasks areperformed by remote processing devices that are linked through acommunications network. In a distributed computing environment, programmodules can be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.

Computing devices typically include a variety of media, which caninclude computer-readable storage media and/or communications media,which two terms are used herein differently from one another as follows.Computer-readable storage media can be any available storage media thatcan be accessed by the computer and includes both volatile andnonvolatile media, removable and non-removable media. By way of example,and not limitation, computer-readable storage media can be implementedin connection with any method or technology for storage of informationsuch as computer-readable instructions, program modules, structured dataor unstructured data.

Computer-readable storage media can include, but are not limited to,random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), electricallyerasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or othermemory technology, compact disk read only memory (CD-ROM), digitalversatile disk (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes,magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devicesor other tangible and/or non-transitory media which can be used to storedesired information. In this regard, the terms “tangible” or“non-transitory” herein as applied to storage, memory orcomputer-readable media, are to be understood to exclude onlypropagating transitory signals per se as modifiers and do not relinquishrights to all standard storage, memory or computer-readable media thatare not only propagating transitory signals per se.

Computer-readable storage media can be accessed by one or more local orremote computing devices, e.g., via access requests, queries or otherdata retrieval protocols, for a variety of operations with respect tothe information stored by the medium.

Communications media typically embody computer-readable instructions,data structures, program modules or other structured or unstructureddata in a data signal such as a modulated data signal, e.g., a carrierwave or other transport mechanism, and includes any information deliveryor transport media. The term “modulated data signal” or signals refersto a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changedin such a manner as to encode information in one or more signals. By wayof example, and not limitation, communication media include wired media,such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless mediasuch as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media.

With reference again to FIG. 12, the example environment 1200 forimplementing various embodiments of the aspects described hereinincludes a computer 1202, the computer 1202 including a processing unit1204, a system memory 1206 and a system bus 1208. The system bus 1208couples system components including, but not limited to, the systemmemory 1206 to the processing unit 1204. The processing unit 1204 can beany of various commercially available processors. Dual microprocessorsand other multi-processor architectures can also be employed as theprocessing unit 1204.

The system bus 1208 can be any of several types of bus structure thatcan further interconnect to a memory bus (with or without a memorycontroller), a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety ofcommercially available bus architectures. The system memory 1206includes ROM 1210 and RAM 1212. A basic input/output system (BIOS) canbe stored in a non-volatile memory such as ROM, erasable programmableread only memory (EPROM), EEPROM, which BIOS contains the basic routinesthat help to transfer information between elements within the computer1202, such as during startup. The RAM 1212 can also include a high-speedRAM such as static RAM for caching data.

The computer 1202 further includes an internal hard disk drive (HDD)1214 (e.g., EIDE, SATA), which internal hard disk drive 1214 can also beconfigured for external use in a suitable chassis (not shown), amagnetic floppy disk drive (FDD) 1216, (e.g., to read from or write to aremovable diskette 1218) and an optical disk drive 1220, (e.g., readinga CD-ROM disk 1222 or, to read from or write to other high capacityoptical media such as the DVD). The hard disk drive 1214, magnetic diskdrive 1216 and optical disk drive 1220 can be connected to the systembus 1208 by a hard disk drive interface 1224, a magnetic disk driveinterface 1226 and an optical drive interface 1228, respectively. Theinterface 1224 for external drive implementations includes at least oneor both of Universal Serial Bus (USB) and Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers (IEEE) 994 interface technologies. Other externaldrive connection technologies are within contemplation of theembodiments described herein.

The drives and their associated computer-readable storage media providenonvolatile storage of data, data structures, computer-executableinstructions, and so forth. For the computer 1202, the drives andstorage media accommodate the storage of any data in a suitable digitalformat. Although the description of computer-readable storage mediaabove refers to a hard disk drive (HDD), a removable magnetic diskette,and a removable optical media such as a CD or DVD, it should beappreciated by those skilled in the art that other types of storagemedia which are readable by a computer, such as zip drives, magneticcassettes, flash memory cards, cartridges, and the like, can also beused in the example operating environment, and further, that any suchstorage media can contain computer-executable instructions forperforming the methods described herein.

A number of program modules can be stored in the drives and RAM 1212,including an operating system 1230, one or more application programs1232, other program modules 1234 and program data 1236. All or portionsof the operating system, applications, modules, and/or data can also becached in the RAM 1212. The systems and methods described herein can beimplemented utilizing various commercially available operating systemsor combinations of operating systems.

A user can enter commands and information into the computer 1202 throughone or more wired/wireless input devices, e.g., a keyboard 1238 and apointing device, such as a mouse 1240. Other input devices (not shown)can include a microphone, an infrared (IR) remote control, a joystick, agame pad, a stylus pen, touch screen or the like. These and other inputdevices are often connected to the processing unit 1204 through an inputdevice interface 1242 that can be coupled to the system bus 1208, butcan be connected by other interfaces, such as a parallel port, an IEEE1394 serial port, a game port, a universal serial bus (USB) port, an IRinterface, etc.

A monitor 1244 or other type of display device can be also connected tothe system bus 1208 via an interface, such as a video adapter 1246. Inaddition to the monitor 1244, a computer typically includes otherperipheral output devices (not shown), such as speakers, printers, etc.

The computer 1202 can operate in a networked environment using logicalconnections via wired and/or wireless communications to one or moreremote computers, such as a remote computer(s) 1248. The remotecomputer(s) 1248 can be a workstation, a server computer, a router, apersonal computer, portable computer, microprocessor-based entertainmentappliance, a peer device or other common network node, and typicallyincludes many or all of the elements described relative to the computer1202, although, for purposes of brevity, only a memory/storage device1250 is illustrated. The logical connections depicted includewired/wireless connectivity to a local area network (LAN) 1252 and/orlarger networks, e.g., a wide area network (WAN) 1254. Such LAN and WANnetworking environments are commonplace in offices and companies, andfacilitate enterprise-wide computer networks, such as intranets, all ofwhich can connect to a global communications network, e.g., theInternet.

When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 1202 can beconnected to the local network 1252 through a wired and/or wirelesscommunication network interface or adapter 1256. The adapter 1256 canfacilitate wired or wireless communication to the LAN 1252, which canalso include a wireless AP disposed thereon for communicating with thewireless adapter 1256.

When used in a WAN networking environment, the computer 1202 can includea modem 1258 or can be connected to a communications server on the WAN1254 or has other means for establishing communications over the WAN1254, such as by way of the Internet. The modem 1258, which can beinternal or external and a wired or wireless device, can be connected tothe system bus 1208 via the input device interface 1242. In a networkedenvironment, program modules depicted relative to the computer 1202 orportions thereof, can be stored in the remote memory/storage device1250. It will be appreciated that the network connections shown areexample and other means of establishing a communications link betweenthe computers can be used.

The computer 1202 can be operable to communicate with any wirelessdevices or entities operatively disposed in wireless communication,e.g., a printer, scanner, desktop and/or portable computer, portabledata assistant, communications satellite, any piece of equipment orlocation associated with a wirelessly detectable tag (e.g., a kiosk,news stand, restroom), and telephone. This can include Wireless Fidelity(Wi-Fi) and BLUETOOTH® wireless technologies. Thus, the communicationcan be a predefined structure as with a conventional network or simplyan ad hoc communication between at least two devices.

Wi-Fi can allow connection to the Internet from a couch at home, a bedin a hotel room or a conference room at work, without wires. Wi-Fi is awireless technology similar to that used in a cell phone that enablessuch devices, e.g., computers, to send and receive data indoors and out;anywhere within the range of a base station. Wi-Fi networks use radiotechnologies called IEEE 802.11 (a, b, g, n, ac, etc.) to providesecure, reliable, fast wireless connectivity. A Wi-Fi network can beused to connect computers to each other, to the Internet, and to wirednetworks (which can use IEEE 802.3 or Ethernet). Wi-Fi networks operatein the unlicensed 2.4 and 5 GHz radio bands, at an 11 Mbps (802.11a) or54 Mbps (802.11b) data rate, for example or with products that containboth bands (dual band), so the networks can provide real-worldperformance similar to the basic 10BaseT wired Ethernet networks used inmany offices.

FIG. 13 presents an example embodiment 1300 of a mobile network platform1310 that can implement and exploit one or more aspects of the disclosedsubject matter described herein. Generally, wireless network platform1310 can include components, e.g., nodes, gateways, interfaces, servers,or disparate platforms, that facilitate both packet-switched (PS) (e.g.,internet protocol (IP), frame relay, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM))and circuit-switched (CS) traffic (e.g., voice and data), as well ascontrol generation for networked wireless telecommunication. As anon-limiting example, wireless network platform 1310 can be included intelecommunications carrier networks, and can be considered carrier-sidecomponents as discussed elsewhere herein. Mobile network platform 1310includes CS gateway node(s) 1312 which can interface CS traffic receivedfrom legacy networks like telephony network(s) 1340 (e.g., publicswitched telephone network (PSTN), or public land mobile network (PLMN))or a signaling system #7 (SS7) network 1370. Circuit switched gatewaynode(s) 1312 can authorize and authenticate traffic (e.g., voice)arising from such networks. Additionally, CS gateway node(s) 1312 canaccess mobility, or roaming, data generated through SS7 network 1370;for instance, mobility data stored in a visited location register (VLR),which can reside in memory 1330. Moreover, CS gateway node(s) 1312interfaces CS-based traffic and signaling and PS gateway node(s) 1318.As an example, in a 3GPP UMTS network, CS gateway node(s) 1312 can berealized at least in part in gateway GPRS support node(s) (GGSN). Itshould be appreciated that functionality and specific operation of CSgateway node(s) 1312, PS gateway node(s) 1318, and serving node(s) 1316,is provided and dictated by radio technology(ies) utilized by mobilenetwork platform 1310 for telecommunication.

In addition to receiving and processing CS-switched traffic andsignaling, PS gateway node(s) 1318 can authorize and authenticatePS-based data sessions with served mobile devices. Data sessions caninclude traffic, or content(s), exchanged with networks external to thewireless network platform 1310, like wide area network(s) (WANs) 1350,enterprise network(s) 1370, and service network(s) 1380, which can beembodied in local area network(s) (LANs), can also be interfaced withmobile network platform 1310 through PS gateway node(s) 1318. It is tobe noted that WANs 1350 and enterprise network(s) 1360 can embody, atleast in part, a service network(s) like IP multimedia subsystem (IMS).Based on radio technology layer(s) available in technology resource(s)1317, packet-switched gateway node(s) 1318 can generate packet dataprotocol contexts when a data session is established; other datastructures that facilitate routing of packetized data also can begenerated. To that end, in an aspect, PS gateway node(s) 1318 caninclude a tunnel interface (e.g., tunnel termination gateway (TTG) in3GPP UMTS network(s) (not shown)) which can facilitate packetizedcommunication with disparate wireless network(s), such as Wi-Finetworks.

In embodiment 1300, wireless network platform 1310 also includes servingnode(s) 1316 that, based upon available radio technology layer(s) withintechnology resource(s) 1317, convey the various packetized flows of datastreams received through PS gateway node(s) 1318. It is to be noted thatfor technology resource(s) 1317 that rely primarily on CS communication,server node(s) can deliver traffic without reliance on PS gatewaynode(s) 1318; for example, server node(s) can embody at least in part amobile switching center. As an example, in a 3GPP UMTS network, servingnode(s) 1316 can be embodied in serving GPRS support node(s) (SGSN).

For radio technologies that exploit packetized communication, server(s)1314 in wireless network platform 1310 can execute numerous applicationsthat can generate multiple disparate packetized data streams or flows,and manage (e.g., schedule, queue, format . . . ) such flows. Suchapplication(s) can include add-on features to standard services (forexample, provisioning, billing, customer support . . . ) provided bywireless network platform 1310. Data streams (e.g., content(s) that arepart of a voice call or data session) can be conveyed to PS gatewaynode(s) 1318 for authorization/authentication and initiation of a datasession, and to serving node(s) 1316 for communication thereafter. Inaddition to application server, server(s) 1314 can include utilityserver(s), a utility server can include a provisioning server, anoperations and maintenance server, a security server that can implementat least in part a certificate authority and firewalls as well as othersecurity mechanisms, and the like. In an aspect, security server(s)secure communication served through wireless network platform 1310 toensure network's operation and data integrity in addition toauthorization and authentication procedures that CS gateway node(s) 1312and PS gateway node(s) 1318 can enact. Moreover, provisioning server(s)can provision services from external network(s) like networks operatedby a disparate service provider; for instance, WAN 1350 or GlobalPositioning System (GPS) network(s) (not shown). Provisioning server(s)can also provision coverage through networks associated to wirelessnetwork platform 1310 (e.g., deployed and operated by the same serviceprovider), such as femto-cell network(s) (not shown) that enhancewireless service coverage within indoor confined spaces and offload RANresources in order to enhance subscriber service experience within ahome or business environment by way of UE 1375.

It is to be noted that server(s) 1314 can include one or more processorsconfigured to confer at least in part the functionality of macro networkplatform 1310. To that end, the one or more processor can execute codeinstructions stored in memory 1330, for example. It is should beappreciated that server(s) 1314 can include a content manager 1315,which operates in substantially the same manner as describedhereinbefore.

In example embodiment 1300, memory 1330 can store information related tooperation of wireless network platform 1310. Other operationalinformation can include provisioning information of mobile devicesserved through wireless platform network 1310, subscriber databases;application intelligence, pricing schemes, e.g., promotional rates,flat-rate programs, couponing campaigns; technical specification(s)consistent with telecommunication protocols for operation of disparateradio, or wireless, technology layers; and so forth. Memory 1330 canalso store information from at least one of telephony network(s) 1340,WAN 1350, enterprise network(s) 1360, or SS7 network 1370. In an aspect,memory 1330 can be, for example, accessed as part of a data storecomponent or as a remotely connected memory store.

In order to provide a context for the various aspects of the disclosedsubject matter, FIG. 13, and the following discussion, are intended toprovide a brief, general description of a suitable environment in whichthe various aspects of the disclosed subject matter can be implemented.While the subject matter has been described above in the general contextof computer-executable instructions of a computer program that runs on acomputer and/or computers, those skilled in the art will recognize thatthe disclosed subject matter also can be implemented in combination withother program modules. Generally, program modules include routines,programs, components, data structures, etc. that perform particulartasks and/or implement particular abstract data types.

Turning now to FIG. 14A, a block diagram illustrating an example,non-limiting embodiment of a communication system 1400 in accordancewith various aspects of the subject disclosure is shown. Thecommunication system 1400 can include a macro base station 1402 such asa base station or access point having antennas that covers one or moresectors (e.g., 6 or more sectors). The macro base station 1402 can becommunicatively coupled to a communication node 1404A that serves as amaster or distribution node for other communication nodes 1404B-Edistributed at differing geographic locations inside or beyond acoverage area of the macro base station 1402. The communication nodes1404 operate as a distributed antenna system configured to handlecommunications traffic associated with client devices such as mobiledevices (e.g., cell phones) and/or fixed/stationary devices (e.g., acommunication device in a residence, or commercial establishment) thatare wirelessly coupled to any of the communication nodes 1404. Inparticular, the wireless resources of the macro base station 1402 can bemade available to mobile devices by allowing and/or redirecting certainmobile and/or stationary devices to utilize the wireless resources of acommunication node 1404 in a communication range of the mobile orstationary devices.

The communication nodes 1404A-E can be communicatively coupled to eachother over an interface 1410. In one embodiment, the interface 1410 cancomprise a wired or tethered interface (e.g., fiber optic cable). Inother embodiments, the interface 1410 can comprise a wireless RFinterface forming a radio distributed antenna system. In variousembodiments, the communication nodes 1804A-E can be configured toprovide communication services to mobile and stationary devicesaccording to instructions provided by the macro base station 1402. Inother examples of operation however, the communication nodes 1404A-Eoperate merely as analog repeaters to spread the coverage of the macrobase station 1402 throughout the entire range of the individualcommunication nodes 1404A-E.

The micro base stations (depicted as communication nodes 1404) candiffer from the macro base station in several ways. For example, thecommunication range of the micro base stations can be smaller than thecommunication range of the macro base station. Consequently, the powerconsumed by the micro base stations can be less than the power consumedby the macro base station. The macro base station optionally directs themicro base stations as to which mobile and/or stationary devices theyare to communicate with, and which carrier frequency, spectralsegment(s) and/or timeslot schedule of such spectral segment(s) are tobe used by the micro base stations when communicating with certainmobile or stationary devices. In these cases, control of the micro basestations by the macro base station can be performed in a master-slaveconfiguration or other suitable control configurations. Whetheroperating independently or under the control of the macro base station1402, the resources of the micro base stations can be simpler and lesscostly than the resources utilized by the macro base station 1402.

Turning now to FIG. 14B, a block diagram illustrating an example,non-limiting embodiment of the communication nodes 1404B-E of thecommunication system 1400 of FIG. 14A is shown. In this illustration,the communication nodes 1404B-E are placed on a utility fixture such asa light post. In other embodiments, some of the communication nodes1404B-E can be placed on a building or a utility post or pole that isused for distributing power and/or communication lines. Thecommunication nodes 1404B-E in these illustrations can be configured tocommunicate with each other over the interface 1410, which in thisillustration is shown as a wireless interface. The communication nodes1404B-E can also be configured to communicate with mobile or stationarydevices 1406A-C over a wireless interface 1411 that conforms to one ormore communication protocols (e.g., fourth generation (4G) wirelesssignals such as LTE signals or other 4G signals, fifth generation (5G)wireless signals, WiMAX, 802.11 signals, ultra-wideband signals, etc.).The communication nodes 1404 can be configured to exchange signals overthe interface 1410 at an operating frequency that may be higher (e.g.,28 GHz, 38 GHz, 60 GHz, 80 GHz or higher) than the operating frequencyused for communicating with the mobile or stationary devices (e.g., 1.9GHz) over interface 1411. The high carrier frequency and a widerbandwidth can be used for communicating between the communication nodes1404 enabling the communication nodes 1404 to provide communicationservices to multiple mobile or stationary devices via one or morediffering frequency bands, (e.g. a 900 MHz band, 1.9 GHz band, a 2.4 GHzband, and/or a 5.8 GHz band, etc.) and/or one or more differingprotocols, as will be illustrated by spectral downlink and uplinkdiagrams of FIG. 15A described below. In other embodiments, particularlywhere the interface 1410 is implemented via a guided wave communicationssystem on a wire, a wideband spectrum in a lower frequency range (e.g.in the range of 2-6 GHz, 4-10 GHz, etc.) can be employed.

Turning now to FIGS. 14C-14D, block diagrams illustrating example,non-limiting embodiments of a communication node 1404 of thecommunication system 1400 of FIG. 14A is shown. The communication node1404 can be attached to a support structure 1418 of a utility fixturesuch as a utility post or pole as shown in FIG. 14C. The communicationnode 1404 can be affixed to the support structure 1418 with an arm 1420constructed of plastic or other suitable material that attaches to anend of the communication node 1404. The communication node 1404 canfurther include a plastic housing assembly 1416 that covers componentsof the communication node 1404. The communication node 1404 can bepowered by a power line 1421 (e.g., 110/220 VAC). The power line 1421can originate from a light pole or can be coupled to a power line of autility pole.

In an embodiment where the communication nodes 1404 communicatewirelessly with other communication nodes 1404 as shown in FIG. 14B, atop side 1412 of the communication node 1404 (illustrated also in FIG.14D) can comprise a plurality of antennas 1422 (e.g., 16 dielectricantennas devoid of metal surfaces) coupled to one or more transceiverssuch as, for example, in whole or in part, the transceiver 1400illustrated in FIG. 14. Each of the plurality of antennas 1422 of thetop side 1412 can operate as a sector of the communication node 1404,each sector configured for communicating with at least one communicationnode 1404 in a communication range of the sector. Alternatively, or incombination, the interface 1410 between communication nodes 1404 can bea tethered interface (e.g., a fiber optic cable, or a power line usedfor transport of guided electromagnetic waves as previously described).In other embodiments, the interface 1410 can differ betweencommunication nodes 1404. That is, some communications nodes 1404 maycommunicate over a wireless interface, while others communicate over atethered interface. In yet other embodiments, some communications nodes1404 may utilize a combined wireless and tethered interface.

A bottom side 1414 of the communication node 1404 can also comprise aplurality of antennas 1424 for wirelessly communicating with one or moremobile or stationary devices 1406 at a carrier frequency that issuitable for the mobile or stationary devices 1406. As noted earlier,the carrier frequency used by the communication node 1404 forcommunicating with the mobile or station devices over the wirelessinterface 1411 shown in FIG. 14B can be different from the carrierfrequency used for communicating between the communication nodes 1404over interface 1410. The plurality of antennas 1424 of the bottomportion 1414 of the communication node 1404 can also utilize atransceiver such as, for example, in whole or in part, the transceiver1400 illustrated in FIG. 14.

Turning now to FIG. 15A, a block diagram illustrating an example,non-limiting embodiment of downlink and uplink communication techniquesfor enabling a base station to communicate with the communication nodes1404 of FIG. 14A is shown. In the illustrations of FIG. 15A, downlinksignals (i.e., signals directed from the macro base station 1402 to thecommunication nodes 1404) can be spectrally divided into controlchannels 1502, downlink spectral segments 1506 each including modulatedsignals which can be frequency converted to their original/nativefrequency band for enabling the communication nodes 1404 to communicatewith one or more mobile or stationary devices 1506, and pilot signals1504 which can be supplied with some or all of the spectral segments1506 for mitigating distortion created between the communication nodes1504. The pilot signals 1504 can be processed by the top side 1416(tethered or wireless) transceivers of downstream communication nodes1404 to remove distortion from a receive signal (e.g., phasedistortion). Each downlink spectral segment 1506 can be allotted abandwidth 1505 sufficiently wide (e.g., 50 MHz) to include acorresponding pilot signal 1504 and one or more downlink modulatedsignals located in frequency channels (or frequency slots) in thespectral segment 1506. The modulated signals can represent cellularchannels, WLAN channels or other modulated communication signals (e.g.,10-20 MHz), which can be used by the communication nodes 1404 forcommunicating with one or more mobile or stationary devices 1406.

Uplink modulated signals generated by mobile or stationary communicationdevice in their native/original frequency bands can be frequencyconverted and thereby located in frequency channels (or frequency slots)in the uplink spectral segment 1510. The uplink modulated signals canrepresent cellular channels, WLAN channels or other modulatedcommunication signals. Each uplink spectral segment 1510 can be allotteda similar or same bandwidth 1505 to include a pilot signal 1508 whichcan be provided with some or each spectral segment 1510 to enableupstream communication nodes 1404 and/or the macro base station 1402 toremove distortion (e.g., phase error).

In the embodiment shown, the downlink and uplink spectral segments 1506and 1510 each comprise a plurality of frequency channels (or frequencyslots), which can be occupied with modulated signals that have beenfrequency converted from any number of native/original frequency bands(e.g. a 900 MHz band, 1.9 GHz band, a 2.4 GHz band, and/or a 5.8 GHzband, etc.). The modulated signals can be up-converted to adjacentfrequency channels in downlink and uplink spectral segments 1506 and1510. In this fashion, while some adjacent frequency channels in adownlink spectral segment 1506 can include modulated signals originallyin a same native/original frequency band, other adjacent frequencychannels in the downlink spectral segment 1506 can also includemodulated signals originally in different native/original frequencybands, but frequency converted to be located in adjacent frequencychannels of the downlink spectral segment 1506. For example, a firstmodulated signal in a 1.9 GHz band and a second modulated signal in thesame frequency band (i.e., 1.9 GHz) can be frequency converted andthereby positioned in adjacent frequency channels of a downlink spectralsegment 1506. In another illustration, a first modulated signal in a 1.9GHz band and a second communication signal in a different frequency band(i.e., 2.4 GHz) can be frequency converted and thereby positioned inadjacent frequency channels of a downlink spectral segment 1506.Accordingly, frequency channels of a downlink spectral segment 1506 canbe occupied with any combination of modulated signals of a same ordiffering signaling protocols and of the same or differingnative/original frequency bands.

Similarly, while some adjacent frequency channels in an uplink spectralsegment 1510 can include modulated signals originally in a samefrequency band, adjacent frequency channels in the uplink spectralsegment 1510 can also include modulated signals originally in differentnative/original frequency bands, but frequency converted to be locatedin adjacent frequency channels of an uplink segment 1510. For example, afirst communication signal in a 2.4 GHz band and a second communicationsignal in the same frequency band (i.e., 2.4 GHz) can be frequencyconverted and thereby positioned in adjacent frequency channels of anuplink spectral segment 1510. In another illustration, a firstcommunication signal in a 1.9 GHz band and a second communication signalin a different frequency band (i.e., 2.4 GHz) can be frequency convertedand thereby positioned in adjacent frequency channels of the uplinkspectral segment 1506. Accordingly, frequency channels of an uplinkspectral segment 1510 can be occupied with any combination of modulatedsignals of a same or differing signaling protocols and of a same ordiffering native/original frequency bands. It should be noted that adownlink spectral segment 1506 and an uplink spectral segment 1510 canthemselves be adjacent to one another and separated by only a guard bandor otherwise separated by a larger frequency spacing, depending on thespectral allocation in place.

Turning now to FIG. 15B, a block diagram 1520 illustrating an example,non-limiting embodiment of a communication node is shown. In particular,the communication node device such as communication node 1404A of aradio distributed antenna system includes a base station interface 1522,duplexer/diplexer assembly 1524, and two transceivers 1530 and 1532. Itshould be noted however, that when the communication node 1404A iscollocated with a base station, such as a macro base station 1402, theduplexer/diplexer assembly 1524 and the transceiver 1530 can be omittedand the transceiver 1532 can be directly coupled to the base stationinterface 1522.

In various embodiments, the base station interface 1522 receives a firstmodulated signal having one or more down link channels in a firstspectral segment for transmission to a client device such as one or moremobile communication devices. The first spectral segment represents anoriginal/native frequency band of the first modulated signal. The firstmodulated signal can include one or more downlink communication channelsconforming to a signaling protocol such as a LTE or other 4G wirelessprotocol, a 5G wireless communication protocol, an ultra-widebandprotocol, a WiMAX protocol, a 802.11 or other wireless local areanetwork protocol and/or other communication protocol. Theduplexer/diplexer assembly 1524 transfers the first modulated signal inthe first spectral segment to the transceiver 1530 for directcommunication with one or more mobile communication devices in range ofthe communication node 1404A as a free space wireless signal. In variousembodiments, the transceiver 1530 is implemented via analog circuitrythat merely provides: filtration to pass the spectrum of the downlinkchannels and the uplink channels of modulated signals in theiroriginal/native frequency bands while attenuating out-of-band signals,power amplification, transmit/receive switching, duplexing, diplexing,and impedance matching to drive one or more antennas that sends andreceives the wireless signals of interface 1410.

In other embodiments, the transceiver 1532 is configured to performfrequency conversion of the first modulated signal in the first spectralsegment to the first modulated signal at a first carrier frequency basedon, in various embodiments, an analog signal processing of the firstmodulated signal without modifying the signaling protocol of the firstmodulated signal. The first modulated signal at the first carrierfrequency can occupy one or more frequency channels of a downlinkspectral segment 1506. The first carrier frequency can be in amillimeter-wave or microwave frequency band. As used herein analogsignal processing includes filtering, switching, duplexing, diplexing,amplification, frequency up and down conversion, and other analogprocessing that does not require digital signal processing, such asincluding without limitation either analog to digital conversion,digital to analog conversion, or digital frequency conversion. In otherembodiments, the transceiver 1532 can be configured to perform frequencyconversion of the first modulated signal in the first spectral segmentto the first carrier frequency by applying digital signal processing tothe first modulated signal without utilizing any form of analog signalprocessing and without modifying the signaling protocol of the firstmodulated signal. In yet other embodiments, the transceiver 1532 can beconfigured to perform frequency conversion of the first modulated signalin the first spectral segment to the first carrier frequency by applyinga combination of digital signal processing and analog processing to thefirst modulated signal and without modifying the signaling protocol ofthe first modulated signal.

The transceiver 1532 can be further configured to transmit one or morecontrol channels, one or more corresponding reference signals, such aspilot signals or other reference signals, and/or one or more clocksignals together with the first modulated signal at the first carrierfrequency to a network element of the distributed antenna system, suchas one or more downstream communication nodes 1404B-E, for wirelessdistribution of the first modulated signal to one or more other mobilecommunication devices once frequency converted by the network element tothe first spectral segment. In particular, the reference signal enablesthe network element to reduce a phase error (and/or other forms ofsignal distortion) during processing of the first modulated signal fromthe first carrier frequency to the first spectral segment. The controlchannel can include instructions to direct the communication node of thedistributed antenna system to convert the first modulated signal at thefirst carrier frequency to the first modulated signal in the firstspectral segment, to control frequency selections and reuse patterns,handoff and/or other control signaling. In embodiments where theinstructions transmitted and received via the control channel aredigital signals, the transceiver can 1532 can include a digital signalprocessing component that provides analog to digital conversion, digitalto analog conversion and that processes the digital data sent and/orreceived via the control channel. The clock signals supplied with thedownlink spectral segment 1506 can be utilized to synchronize timing ofdigital control channel processing by the downstream communication nodes1404B-E to recover the instructions from the control channel and/or toprovide other timing signals.

In various embodiments, the transceiver 1532 can receive a secondmodulated signal at a second carrier frequency from a network elementsuch as a communication node 1404B-E. The second modulated signal caninclude one or more uplink frequency channels occupied by one or moremodulated signals conforming to a signaling protocol such as a LTE orother 4G wireless protocol, a 5G wireless communication protocol, anultra-wideband protocol, a 802.11 or other wireless local area networkprotocol and/or other communication protocol. In particular, the mobileor stationary communication device generates the second modulated signalin a second spectral segment such as an original/native frequency bandand the network element frequency converts the second modulated signalin the second spectral segment to the second modulated signal at thesecond carrier frequency and transmits the second modulated signal atthe second carrier frequency as received by the communication node1404A. The transceiver 1532 operates to convert the second modulatedsignal at the second carrier frequency to the second modulated signal inthe second spectral segment and sends the second modulated signal in thesecond spectral segment, via the duplexer/diplexer assembly 1524 andbase station interface 1522, to a base station, such as macro basestation 1402, for processing.

Consider the following examples where the communication node 1404A isimplemented in a distributed antenna system. The uplink frequencychannels in an uplink spectral segment 1510 and downlink frequencychannels in a downlink spectral segment 1506 can be occupied withsignals modulated and otherwise formatted in accordance with a DOCSIS2.0 or higher standard protocol, a WiMAX standard protocol, anultra-wideband protocol, a 802.11 standard protocol, a 4G or 5G voiceand data protocol such as an LTE protocol and/or other standardcommunication protocol. In addition to protocols that conform withcurrent standards, any of these protocols can be modified to operate inconjunction with the system of FIG. 14A. For example, a 802.11 protocolor other protocol can be modified to include additional guidelinesand/or a separate data channel to provide collision detection/multipleaccess over a wider area (e.g. allowing network elements orcommunication devices communicatively coupled to the network elementsthat are communicating via a particular frequency channel of a downlinkspectral segment 1506 or uplink spectral segment 1510 to hear oneanother). In various embodiments all of the uplink frequency channels ofthe uplink spectral segment 1510 and downlink frequency channel of thedownlink spectral segment 1506 can all be formatted in accordance withthe same communications protocol. In the alternative however, two ormore differing protocols can be employed on both the uplink spectralsegment 1510 and the downlink spectral segment 1506 to, for example, becompatible with a wider range of client devices and/or operate indifferent frequency bands.

When two or more differing protocols are employed, a first subset of thedownlink frequency channels of the downlink spectral segment 1506 can bemodulated in accordance with a first standard protocol and a secondsubset of the downlink frequency channels of the downlink spectralsegment 1506 can be modulated in accordance with a second standardprotocol that differs from the first standard protocol. Likewise a firstsubset of the uplink frequency channels of the uplink spectral segment1510 can be received by the system for demodulation in accordance withthe first standard protocol and a second subset of the uplink frequencychannels of the uplink spectral segment 1510 can be received inaccordance with a second standard protocol for demodulation inaccordance with the second standard protocol that differs from the firststandard protocol.

In accordance with these examples, the base station interface 1522 canbe configured to receive modulated signals such as one or more downlinkchannels in their original/native frequency bands from a base stationsuch as macro base station 1402 or other communications network element.Similarly, the base station interface 1522 can be configured to supplyto a base station modulated signals received from another networkelement that is frequency converted to modulated signals having one ormore uplink channels in their original/native frequency bands. The basestation interface 1522 can be implemented via a wired or wirelessinterface that bidirectionally communicates communication signals suchas uplink and downlink channels in their original/native frequencybands, communication control signals and other network signaling with amacro base station or other network element. The duplexer/diplexerassembly 1524 is configured to transfer the downlink channels in theiroriginal/native frequency bands to the transceiver 1532 which frequencyconverts the frequency of the downlink channels from theiroriginal/native frequency bands into the frequency spectrum of interface1410—in this case a wireless communication link used to transport thecommunication signals downstream to one or more other communicationnodes 1404B-E of the distributed antenna system in range of thecommunication device 1404A.

In various embodiments, the transceiver 1532 includes an analog radiothat frequency converts the downlink channel signals in theiroriginal/native frequency bands via mixing or other heterodyne action togenerate frequency converted downlink channels signals that occupydownlink frequency channels of the downlink spectral segment 1506. Inthis illustration, the downlink spectral segment 1506 is within thedownlink frequency band of the interface 1410. In an embodiment, thedownlink channel signals are up-converted from their original/nativefrequency bands to a 28 GHz, 38 GHz, 60 GHz, 70 GHz or 80 GHz band ofthe downlink spectral segment 1506 for line-of-sight wirelesscommunications to one or more other communication nodes 1404B-E. It isnoted, however, that other frequency bands can likewise be employed fora downlink spectral segment 1506 (e.g., 3 GHz to 5 GHz). For example,the transceiver 1532 can be configured for down-conversion of one ormore downlink channel signals in their original/native spectral bands ininstances where the frequency band of the interface 1410 falls below theoriginal/native spectral bands of the one or more downlink channelssignals.

The transceiver 1532 can be coupled to multiple individual antennas,such as antennas 1422 presented in conjunction with FIG. 14D, forcommunicating with the communication nodes 1404B, a phased antenna arrayor steerable beam or multi-beam antenna system for communicating withmultiple devices at different locations. The duplexer/diplexer assembly1524 can include a duplexer, triplexer, splitter, switch, router and/orother assembly that operates as a “channel duplexer” to providebi-directional communications over multiple communication paths via oneor more original/native spectral segments of the uplink and downlinkchannels.

In addition to forwarding frequency converted modulated signalsdownstream to other communication nodes 1404B-E at a carrier frequencythat differs from their original/native spectral bands, thecommunication node 1404A can also communicate all or a selected portionof the modulated signals unmodified from their original/native spectralbands to client devices in a wireless communication range of thecommunication node 1404A via the wireless interface 1411. Theduplexer/diplexer assembly 1524 transfers the modulated signals in theiroriginal/native spectral bands to the transceiver 1530. The transceiver1530 can include a channel selection filter for selecting one or moredownlink channels and a power amplifier coupled to one or more antennas,such as antennas 1424 presented in conjunction with FIG. 14D, fortransmission of the downlink channels via wireless interface 1411 tomobile or fixed wireless devices.

In addition to downlink communications destined for client devices,communication node 1404A can operate in a reciprocal fashion to handleuplink communications originating from client devices as well. Inoperation, the transceiver 1532 receives uplink channels in the uplinkspectral segment 1510 from communication nodes 1404B-E via the uplinkspectrum of interface 1410. The uplink frequency channels in the uplinkspectral segment 1510 include modulated signals that were frequencyconverted by communication nodes 1404B-E from their original/nativespectral bands to the uplink frequency channels of the uplink spectralsegment 1510. In situations where the interface 1410 operates in ahigher frequency band than the native/original spectral segments of themodulated signals supplied by the client devices, the transceiver 1532down-converts the up-converted modulated signals to their originalfrequency bands. In situations, however, where the interface 1410operates in a lower frequency band than the native/original spectralsegments of the modulated signals supplied by the client devices, thetransceiver 1532 up-converts the down-converted modulated signals totheir original frequency bands. Further, the transceiver 1530 operatesto receive all or selected ones of the modulated signals in theiroriginal/native frequency bands from client devices via the wirelessinterface 1411. The duplexer/diplexer assembly 1524 transfers themodulated signals in their original/native frequency bands received viathe transceiver 1530 to the base station interface 1522 to be sent tothe macro base station 1402 or other network element of a communicationsnetwork. Similarly, modulated signals occupying uplink frequencychannels in an uplink spectral segment 1510 that are frequency convertedto their original/native frequency bands by the transceiver 1532 aresupplied to the duplexer/diplexer assembly 1524 for transfer to the basestation interface 1522 to be sent to the macro base station 1402 orother network element of a communications network.

Turning now to FIG. 15C, a block diagram 1535 illustrating an example,non-limiting embodiment of a communication node is shown. In particular,the communication node device such as communication node 1404B, 1404C,1404D or 1404E of a radio distributed antenna system includestransceiver 1533, duplexer/diplexer assembly 1524, an amplifier 1538 andtwo transceivers 1536A and 1536B.

In various embodiments, the transceiver 1536A receives, from acommunication node 1404A or an upstream communication node 1404B-E, afirst modulated signal at a first carrier frequency corresponding to theplacement of the channels of the first modulated signal in the convertedspectrum of the distributed antenna system (e.g., frequency channels ofone or more downlink spectral segments 1506). The first modulated signalincludes first communications data provided by a base station anddirected to a mobile communication device. The transceiver 1536A isfurther configured to receive, from a communication node 1404A one ormore control channels and one or more corresponding reference signals,such as pilot signals or other reference signals, and/or one or moreclock signals associated with the first modulated signal at the firstcarrier frequency. The first modulated signal can include one or moredownlink communication channels conforming to a signaling protocol suchas a LTE or other 4G wireless protocol, a 5G wireless communicationprotocol, an ultra-wideband protocol, a WiMAX protocol, a 802.11 orother wireless local area network protocol and/or other communicationprotocol.

As previously discussed, the reference signal enables the networkelement to reduce a phase error (and/or other forms of signaldistortion) during processing of the first modulated signal from thefirst carrier frequency to the first spectral segment (i.e.,original/native spectrum). The control channel includes instructions todirect the communication node of the distributed antenna system toconvert the first modulated signal at the first carrier frequency to thefirst modulated signal in the first spectral segment, to controlfrequency selections and reuse patterns, handoff and/or other controlsignaling. The clock signals can synchronize timing of digital controlchannel processing by the downstream communication nodes 1404B-E torecover the instructions from the control channel and/or to provideother timing signals.

The amplifier 1538 can be a bidirectional amplifier that amplifies thefirst modulated signal at the first carrier frequency together with thereference signals, control channels and/or clock signals for couplingvia the duplexer/diplexer assembly 1524 to transceiver 1536B, which inthis illustration, serves as a repeater for retransmission of theamplified the first modulated signal at the first carrier frequencytogether with the reference signals, control channels and/or clocksignals to one or more others of the communication nodes 1404B-E thatare downstream from the communication node 1404B-E that is shown andthat operate in a similar fashion.

The amplified first modulated signal at the first carrier frequencytogether with the reference signals, control channels and/or clocksignals are also coupled via the duplexer/diplexer assembly 1524 to thetransceiver 1533. The transceiver 1533 performs digital signalprocessing on the control channel to recover the instructions, such asin the form of digital data, from the control channel. The clock signalis used to synchronize timing of the digital control channel processing.The transceiver 1533 then performs frequency conversion of the firstmodulated signal at the first carrier frequency to the first modulatedsignal in the first spectral segment in accordance with the instructionsand based on an analog (and/or digital) signal processing of the firstmodulated signal and utilizing the reference signal to reduce distortionduring the converting process. The transceiver 1533 wirelessly transmitsthe first modulated signal in the first spectral segment for directcommunication with one or more mobile communication devices in range ofthe communication node 1404B-E as free space wireless signals.

In various embodiments, the transceiver 1536B receives a secondmodulated signal at a second carrier frequency in an uplink spectralsegment 1510 from other network elements such as one or more othercommunication nodes 1404B-E that are downstream from the communicationnode 1404B-E that is shown. The second modulated signal can include oneor more uplink communication channels conforming to a signaling protocolsuch as a LTE or other 4G wireless protocol, a 5G wireless communicationprotocol, an ultra-wideband protocol, a 802.11 or other wireless localarea network protocol and/or other communication protocol. Inparticular, one or more mobile communication devices generate the secondmodulated signal in a second spectral segment such as an original/nativefrequency band and the downstream network element performs frequencyconversion on the second modulated signal in the second spectral segmentto the second modulated signal at the second carrier frequency andtransmits the second modulated signal at the second carrier frequency inan uplink spectral segment 1510 as received by the communication node1404B-E shown. The transceiver 1536B operates to send the secondmodulated signal at the second carrier frequency to amplifier 1538, viathe duplexer/diplexer assembly 1524, for amplification andretransmission via the transceiver 1536A back to the communication node1404A or upstream communication nodes 1404B-E for further retransmissionback to a base station, such as macro base station 1402, for processing.

The transceiver 1533 may also receive a second modulated signal in thesecond spectral segment from one or more mobile communication devices inrange of the communication node 1404B-E. The transceiver 1533 operatesto perform frequency conversion on the second modulated signal in thesecond spectral segment to the second modulated signal at the secondcarrier frequency, for example, under control of the instructionsreceived via the control channel, inserts the reference signals, controlchannels and/or clock signals for use by communication node 1404A inreconverting the second modulated signal back to the original/nativespectral segments and sends the second modulated signal at the secondcarrier frequency, via the duplexer/diplexer assembly 1524 and amplifier1538, to the transceiver 1536A for amplification and retransmission backto the communication node 1404A or upstream communication nodes 1404B-Efor further retransmission back to a base station, such as macro basestation 1402, for processing.

Turning now to FIG. 15D, a graphical diagram 1540 illustrating anexample, non-limiting embodiment of a frequency spectrum is shown. Inparticular, a spectrum 1542 is shown for a distributed antenna systemthat conveys modulated signals that occupy frequency channels of adownlink segment 1506 or uplink spectral segment 1510 after they havebeen converted in frequency (e.g. via up-conversion or down-conversion)from one or more original/native spectral segments into the spectrum1542.

In the example presented, the downstream (downlink) channel band 1544includes a plurality of downstream frequency channels represented byseparate downlink spectral segments 1506. Likewise the upstream (uplink)channel band 1546 includes a plurality of upstream frequency channelsrepresented by separate uplink spectral segments 1510. The spectralshapes of the separate spectral segments are meant to be placeholdersfor the frequency allocation of each modulated signal along withassociated reference signals, control channels and clock signals. Theactual spectral response of each frequency channel in a downlinkspectral segment 1506 or uplink spectral segment 1510 will vary based onthe protocol and modulation employed and further as a function of time.

The number of the uplink spectral segments 1510 can be less than orgreater than the number of the downlink spectral segments 1506 inaccordance with an asymmetrical communication system. In this case, theupstream channel band 1546 can be narrower or wider than the downstreamchannel band 1544. In the alternative, the number of the uplink spectralsegments 1510 can be equal to the number of the downlink spectralsegments 1506 in the case where a symmetrical communication system isimplemented. In this case, the width of the upstream channel band 1546can be equal to the width of the downstream channel band 1544 and bitstuffing or other data filling techniques can be employed to compensatefor variations in upstream traffic. While the downstream channel band1544 is shown at a lower frequency than the upstream channel band 1546,in other embodiments, the downstream channel band 1444 can be at ahigher frequency than the upstream channel band 1546. In addition, thenumber of spectral segments and their respective frequency positions inspectrum 1542 can change dynamically over time. For example, a generalcontrol channel can be provided in the spectrum 1542 (not shown) whichcan indicate to communication nodes 1404 the frequency position of eachdownlink spectral segment 1506 and each uplink spectral segment 1510.Depending on traffic conditions, or network requirements necessitating areallocation of bandwidth, the number of downlink spectral segments 1506and uplink spectral segments 1510 can be changed by way of the generalcontrol channel. Additionally, the downlink spectral segments 1506 anduplink spectral segments 1510 do not have to be grouped separately. Forinstance, a general control channel can identify a downlink spectralsegment 1506 being followed by an uplink spectral segment 1510 in analternating fashion, or in any other combination which may or may not besymmetric. It is further noted that instead of utilizing a generalcontrol channel, multiple control channels can be used, each identifyingthe frequency position of one or more spectral segments and the type ofspectral segment (i.e., uplink or downlink).

Further, while the downstream channel band 1544 and upstream channelband 1546 are shown as occupying a single contiguous frequency band, inother embodiments, two or more upstream and/or two or more downstreamchannel bands can be employed, depending on available spectrum and/orthe communication standards employed. Frequency channels of the uplinkspectral segments 1510 and downlink spectral segments 1506 can beoccupied by frequency converted signals modulated formatted inaccordance with a DOCSIS 2.0 or higher standard protocol, a WiMAXstandard protocol, an ultra-wideband protocol, a 802.11 standardprotocol, a 4G or 5G voice and data protocol such as an LTE protocoland/or other standard communication protocol. In addition to protocolsthat conform with current standards, any of these protocols can bemodified to operate in conjunction with the system shown. For example, a802.11 protocol or other protocol can be modified to include additionalguidelines and/or a separate data channel to provide collisiondetection/multiple access over a wider area (e.g. allowing devices thatare communicating via a particular frequency channel to hear oneanother). In various embodiments all of the uplink frequency channels ofthe uplink spectral segments 1510 and downlink frequency channel of thedownlink spectral segments 1506 are all formatted in accordance with thesame communications protocol. In the alternative however, two or morediffering protocols can be employed on both the uplink frequencychannels of one or more uplink spectral segments 1510 and downlinkfrequency channels of one or more downlink spectral segments 1506 to,for example, be compatible with a wider range of client devices and/oroperate in different frequency bands.

It should be noted that, the modulated signals can be gathered fromdiffering original/native spectral segments for aggregation into thespectrum 1542. In this fashion, a first portion of uplink frequencychannels of an uplink spectral segment 1510 may be adjacent to a secondportion of uplink frequency channels of the uplink spectral segment 1510that have been frequency converted from one or more differingoriginal/native spectral segments. Similarly, a first portion ofdownlink frequency channels of a downlink spectral segment 1506 may beadjacent to a second portion of downlink frequency channels of thedownlink spectral segment 1506 that have been frequency converted fromone or more differing original/native spectral segments. For example,one or more 2.4 GHz 802.11 channels that have been frequency convertedmay be adjacent to one or more 5.8 GHz 802.11 channels that have alsobeen frequency converted to a spectrum 1542 that is centered at 80 GHz.It should be noted that each spectral segment can have an associatedreference signal such as a pilot signal that can be used in generating alocal oscillator signal at a frequency and phase that provides thefrequency conversion of one or more frequency channels of that spectralsegment from its placement in the spectrum 1542 back into itoriginal/native spectral segment.

Turning now to FIG. 15E, a graphical diagram 1550 illustrating anexample, non-limiting embodiment of a frequency spectrum is shown. Inparticular a spectral segment selection is presented as discussed inconjunction with signal processing performed on the selected spectralsegment by transceivers 1530 of communication node 1440A or transceiver1532 of communication node 1404B-E. As shown, a particular uplinkfrequency portion 1558 including one of the uplink spectral segments1510 of uplink frequency channel band 1546 and a particular downlinkfrequency portion 1556 including one of the downlink spectral segments1506 of downlink channel frequency band 1544 is selected to be passed bychannel selection filtration, with the remaining portions of uplinkfrequency channel band 1546 and downlink channel frequency band 1544being filtered out—i.e. attenuated so as to mitigate adverse effects ofthe processing of the desired frequency channels that are passed by thetransceiver. It should be noted that while a single particular uplinkspectral segment 1510 and a particular downlink spectral segment 1506are shown as being selected, two or more uplink and/or downlink spectralsegments may be passed in other embodiments.

While the transceivers 1530 and 1532 can operate based on static channelfilters with the uplink and downlink frequency portions 1558 and 1556being fixed, as previously discussed, instructions sent to thetransceivers 1530 and 1532 via the control channel can be used todynamically configure the transceivers 1530 and 1532 to a particularfrequency selection. In this fashion, upstream and downstream frequencychannels of corresponding spectral segments can be dynamically allocatedto various communication nodes by the macro base station 1402 or othernetwork element of a communication network to optimize performance bythe distributed antenna system.

Turning now to FIG. 15F, a graphical diagram 1560 illustrating anexample, non-limiting embodiment of a frequency spectrum is shown. Inparticular, a spectrum 1562 is shown for a distributed antenna systemthat conveys modulated signals occupying frequency channels of uplink ordownlink spectral segments after they have been converted in frequency(e.g. via up-conversion or down-conversion) from one or moreoriginal/native spectral segments into the spectrum 1562.

As previously discussed two or more different communication protocolscan be employed to communicate upstream and downstream data. When two ormore differing protocols are employed, a first subset of the downlinkfrequency channels of a downlink spectral segment 1506 can be occupiedby frequency converted modulated signals in accordance with a firststandard protocol and a second subset of the downlink frequency channelsof the same or a different downlink spectral segment 1510 can beoccupied by frequency converted modulated signals in accordance with asecond standard protocol that differs from the first standard protocol.Likewise a first subset of the uplink frequency channels of an uplinkspectral segment 1510 can be received by the system for demodulation inaccordance with the first standard protocol and a second subset of theuplink frequency channels of the same or a different uplink spectralsegment 1510 can be received in accordance with a second standardprotocol for demodulation in accordance with the second standardprotocol that differs from the first standard protocol.

In the example shown, the downstream channel band 1544 includes a firstplurality of downstream spectral segments represented by separatespectral shapes of a first type representing the use of a firstcommunication protocol. The downstream channel band 1544′ includes asecond plurality of downstream spectral segments represented by separatespectral shapes of a second type representing the use of a secondcommunication protocol. Likewise the upstream channel band 1546 includesa first plurality of upstream spectral segments represented by separatespectral shapes of the first type representing the use of the firstcommunication protocol. The upstream channel band 1546′ includes asecond plurality of upstream spectral segments represented by separatespectral shapes of the second type representing the use of the secondcommunication protocol. These separate spectral shapes are meant to beplaceholders for the frequency allocation of each individual spectralsegment along with associated reference signals, control channels and/orclock signals. While the individual channel bandwidth is shown as beingroughly the same for channels of the first and second type, it should benoted that upstream and downstream channel bands 1544, 1544′, 1546 and1546′ may be of differing bandwidths. Additionally, the spectralsegments in these channel bands of the first and second type may be ofdiffering bandwidths, depending on available spectrum and/or thecommunication standards employed.

Turning now to FIG. 15G, a graphical diagram 1570 illustrating anexample, non-limiting embodiment of a frequency spectrum is shown. Inparticular a portion of the spectrum 1542 or 1562 of FIGS. 15D-15F isshown for a distributed antenna system that conveys modulated signals inthe form of channel signals that have been converted in frequency (e.g.via up-conversion or down-conversion) from one or more original/nativespectral segments.

The portion 1572 includes a portion of a downlink or uplink spectralsegment 1506 and 1510 that is represented by a spectral shape and thatrepresents a portion of the bandwidth set aside for a control channel,reference signal, and/or clock signal. The spectral shape 1574, forexample, represents a control channel that is separate from referencesignal 1579 and a clock signal 1578. It should be noted that the clocksignal 1578 is shown with a spectral shape representing a sinusoidalsignal that may require conditioning into the form of a more traditionalclock signal. In other embodiments however, a traditional clock signalcould be sent as a modulated carrier wave such by modulating thereference signal 1579 via amplitude modulation or other modulationtechnique that preserves the phase of the carrier for use as a phasereference. In other embodiments, the clock signal could be transmittedby modulating another carrier wave or as another signal. Further, it isnoted that both the clock signal 1578 and the reference signal 1579 areshown as being outside the frequency band of the control channel 1574.

In another example, the portion 1575 includes a portion of a downlink oruplink spectral segment 1506 and 1510 that is represented by a portionof a spectral shape that represents a portion of the bandwidth set asidefor a control channel, reference signal, and/or clock signal. Thespectral shape 1576 represents a control channel having instructionsthat include digital data that modulates the reference signal, viaamplitude modulation, amplitude shift keying or other modulationtechnique that preserves the phase of the carrier for use as a phasereference. The clock signal 1578 is shown as being outside the frequencyband of the spectral shape 1576. The reference signal, being modulatedby the control channel instructions, is in effect a subcarrier of thecontrol channel and is in-band to the control channel. Again, the clocksignal 1578 is shown with a spectral shape representing a sinusoidalsignal, in other embodiments however, a traditional clock signal couldbe sent as a modulated carrier wave or other signal. In this case, theinstructions of the control channel can be used to modulate the clocksignal 1578 instead of the reference signal.

Consider the following example, where the control channel 1576 iscarried via modulation of a reference signal in the form of a continuouswave (CW) from which the phase distortion in the receiver is correctedduring frequency conversion of the downlink or uplink spectral segmentback to its original/native spectral segment. The control channel 1576can be modulated with a robust modulation such as pulse amplitudemodulation, binary phase shift keying, amplitude shift keying or othermodulation scheme to carry instructions between network elements of thedistributed antenna system such as network operations, administrationand management traffic and other control data. In various embodiments,the control data can include:

-   -   Status information that indicates online status, offline status,        and network performance parameters of each network element.    -   Network device information such as module names and addresses,        hardware and software versions, device capabilities, etc.    -   Spectral information such as frequency conversion factors,        channel spacing, guard bands, uplink/downlink allocations,        uplink and downlink channel selections, etc.    -   Environmental measurements such as weather conditions, image        data, power outage information, line of sight blockages, etc.

In a further example, the control channel data can be sent viaultra-wideband (UWB) signaling. The control channel data can betransmitted by generating radio energy at specific time intervals andoccupying a larger bandwidth, via pulse-position or time modulation, byencoding the polarity or amplitude of the UWB pulses and/or by usingorthogonal pulses. In particular, UWB pulses can be sent sporadically atrelatively low pulse rates to support time or position modulation, butcan also be sent at rates up to the inverse of the UWB pulse bandwidth.In this fashion, the control channel can be spread over an UWB spectrumwith relatively low power, and without interfering with CW transmissionsof the reference signal and/or clock signal that may occupy in-bandportions of the UWB spectrum of the control channel.

Turning now to FIG. 15H, a block diagram 1580 illustrating an example,non-limiting embodiment of a transmitter is shown. In particular, atransmitter 1582 is shown for use with, for example, a receiver 1581 anda digital control channel processor 1595 in a transceiver, such astransceiver 1533 presented in conjunction with FIG. 15C. As shown, thetransmitter 1582 includes an analog front-end 1586, clock signalgenerator 1589, a local oscillator 1592, a mixer 1596, and a transmitterfront end 1584.

The amplified first modulated signal at the first carrier frequencytogether with the reference signals, control channels and/or clocksignals are coupled from the amplifier 1538 to the analog front-end1586. The analog front end 1586 includes one or more filters or otherfrequency selection to separate the control channel signal 1587, a clockreference signal 1578, a pilot signal 1591 and one or more selectedchannels signals 1594.

The digital control channel processor 1595 performs digital signalprocessing on the control channel to recover the instructions, such asvia demodulation of digital control channel data, from the controlchannel signal 1587. The clock signal generator 1589 generates the clocksignal 1590, from the clock reference signal 1578, to synchronize timingof the digital control channel processing by the digital control channelprocessor 1595. In embodiments where the clock reference signal 1578 isa sinusoid, the clock signal generator 1589 can provide amplificationand limiting to create a traditional clock signal or other timing signalfrom the sinusoid. In embodiments where the clock reference signal 1578is a modulated carrier signal, such as a modulation of the reference orpilot signal or other carrier wave, the clock signal generator 1589 canprovide demodulation to create a traditional clock signal or othertiming signal.

In various embodiments, the control channel signal 1587 can be either adigitally modulated signal in a range of frequencies separate from thepilot signal 1591 and the clock reference 1588 or as modulation of thepilot signal 1591. In operation, the digital control channel processor1595 provides demodulation of the control channel signal 1587 to extractthe instructions contained therein in order to generate a control signal1593. In particular, the control signal 1593 generated by the digitalcontrol channel processor 1595 in response to instructions received viathe control channel can be used to select the particular channel signals1594 along with the corresponding pilot signal 1591 and/or clockreference 1588 to be used for converting the frequencies of channelsignals 1594 for transmission via wireless interface 1411. It should benoted that in circumstances where the control channel signal 1587conveys the instructions via modulation of the pilot signal 1591, thepilot signal 1591 can be extracted via the digital control channelprocessor 1595 rather than the analog front-end 1586 as shown.

The digital control channel processor 1595 may be implemented via aprocessing module such as a microprocessor, micro-controller, digitalsignal processor, microcomputer, central processing unit, fieldprogrammable gate array, programmable logic device, state machine, logiccircuitry, digital circuitry, an analog to digital converter, a digitalto analog converter and/or any device that manipulates signals (analogand/or digital) based on hard coding of the circuitry and/or operationalinstructions. The processing module may be, or further include, memoryand/or an integrated memory element, which may be a single memorydevice, a plurality of memory devices, and/or embedded circuitry ofanother processing module, module, processing circuit, and/or processingunit. Such a memory device may be a read-only memory, random accessmemory, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, static memory, dynamicmemory, flash memory, cache memory, and/or any device that storesdigital information. Note that if the processing module includes morethan one processing device, the processing devices may be centrallylocated (e.g., directly coupled together via a wired and/or wireless busstructure) or may be distributedly located (e.g., cloud computing viaindirect coupling via a local area network and/or a wide area network).Further note that the memory and/or memory element storing thecorresponding operational instructions may be embedded within, orexternal to, the microprocessor, micro-controller, digital signalprocessor, microcomputer, central processing unit, field programmablegate array, programmable logic device, state machine, logic circuitry,digital circuitry, an analog to digital converter, a digital to analogconverter or other device. Still further note that, the memory elementmay store, and the processing module executes, hard coded and/oroperational instructions corresponding to at least some of the stepsand/or functions described herein and such a memory device or memoryelement can be implemented as an article of manufacture.

The local oscillator 1592 generates the local oscillator signal 1597utilizing the pilot signal 1591 to reduce distortion during thefrequency conversion process. In various embodiments the pilot signal1591 is at the correct frequency and phase of the local oscillatorsignal 1597 to generate the local oscillator signal 1597 at the properfrequency and phase to convert the channel signals 1594 at the carrierfrequency associated with their placement in the spectrum of thedistributed antenna system to their original/native spectral segmentsfor transmission to fixed or mobile communication devices. In this case,the local oscillator 1592 can employ bandpass filtration and/or othersignal conditioning to generate a sinusoidal local oscillator signal1597 that preserves the frequency and phase of the pilot signal 1591. Inother embodiments, the pilot signal 1591 has a frequency and phase thatcan be used to derive the local oscillator signal 1597. In this case,the local oscillator 1592 employs frequency division, frequencymultiplication or other frequency synthesis, based on the pilot signal1591, to generate the local oscillator signal 1597 at the properfrequency and phase to convert the channel signals 1594 at the carrierfrequency associated with their placement in the spectrum of thedistributed antenna system to their original/native spectral segmentsfor transmission to fixed or mobile communication devices.

The mixer 1596 operates based on the local oscillator signal 1597 toshift the channel signals 1594 in frequency to generate frequencyconverted channel signals 1598 at their corresponding original/nativespectral segments. While a single mixing stage is shown, multiple mixingstages can be employed to shift the channel signals to baseband and/orone or more intermediate frequencies as part of the total frequencyconversion. The transmitter (Xmtr) front-end 1584 includes a poweramplifier and impedance matching to wirelessly transmit the frequencyconverted channel signals 1598 as a free space wireless signals via oneor more antennas, such as antennas 1424, to one or more mobile or fixedcommunication devices in range of the communication node 1404B-E.

Turning now to FIG. 15I, a block diagram 1585 illustrating an example,non-limiting embodiment of a receiver is shown. In particular, areceiver 1581 is shown for use with, for example, transmitter 1582 anddigital control channel processor 1595 in a transceiver, such astransceiver 1533 presented in conjunction with FIG. 15C. As shown, thereceiver 1581 includes an analog receiver (RCVR) front-end 1583, localoscillator 1592, and mixer 1596. The digital control channel processor1595 operates under control of instructions from the control channel togenerate the pilot signal 1591, control channel signal 1587 and clockreference signal 1578.

The control signal 1593 generated by the digital control channelprocessor 1595 in response to instructions received via the controlchannel can also be used to select the particular channel signals 1594along with the corresponding pilot signal 1591 and/or clock reference1588 to be used for converting the frequencies of channel signals 1594for reception via wireless interface 1411. The analog receiver front end1583 includes a low noise amplifier and one or more filters or otherfrequency selection to receive one or more selected channels signals1594 under control of the control signal 1593.

The local oscillator 1592 generates the local oscillator signal 1597utilizing the pilot signal 1591 to reduce distortion during thefrequency conversion process. In various embodiments the localoscillator employs bandpass filtration and/or other signal conditioning,frequency division, frequency multiplication or other frequencysynthesis, based on the pilot signal 1591, to generate the localoscillator signal 1597 at the proper frequency and phase to frequencyconvert the channel signals 1594, the pilot signal 1591, control channelsignal 1587 and clock reference signal 1578 to the spectrum of thedistributed antenna system for transmission to other communication nodes1404A-E. In particular, the mixer 1596 operates based on the localoscillator signal 1597 to shift the channel signals 1594 in frequency togenerate frequency converted channel signals 1598 at the desiredplacement within spectrum spectral segment of the distributed antennasystem for coupling to the amplifier 1538, to transceiver 1536A foramplification and retransmission via the transceiver 1536A back to thecommunication node 1404A or upstream communication nodes 1404B-E forfurther retransmission back to a base station, such as macro basestation 1402, for processing. Again, while a single mixing stage isshown, multiple mixing stages can be employed to shift the channelsignals to baseband and/or one or more intermediate frequencies as partof the total frequency conversion.

Turning now to FIG. 16A, a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method 1600, is shown. Method 1600 can be used with oneor more functions and features presented in conjunction with FIGS. 1-15.Method 1600 can begin with step 1602 in which a base station, such asthe macro base station 1402 of FIG. 14A, determines a rate of travel ofa communication device. The communication device can be a mobilecommunication device such as one of the mobile devices 1406 illustratedin FIG. 14B, or stationary communication device (e.g., a communicationdevice in a residence, or commercial establishment). The base stationcan communicate directly with the communication device utilizingwireless cellular communications technology (e.g., LTE), which enablesthe base station to monitor the movement of the communication device byreceiving location information from the communication device, and/or toprovide the communication device wireless communication services such asvoice and/or data services. During a communication session, the basestation and the communication device exchange wireless signals thatoperate at a certain native/original carrier frequency (e.g., a 900 MHzband, 1.9 GHz band, a 2.4 GHz band, and/or a 5.8 GHz band, etc.)utilizing one or more spectral segments (e.g., resource blocks) of acertain bandwidth (e.g., 10-20 MHz). In some embodiments, the spectralsegments are used according to a time slot schedule assigned to thecommunication device by the base station.

The rate of travel of the communication device can be determined at step1602 from GPS coordinates provided by the communication device to thebase station by way of cellular wireless signals. If the rate of travelis above a threshold (e.g., 25 miles per hour) at step 1604, the basestation can continue to provide wireless services to the communicationdevice at step 1606 utilizing the wireless resources of the basestation. If, on the other hand, the communication device has a rate oftravel below the threshold, the base station can be configured tofurther determine whether the communication device can be redirected toa communication node to make available the wireless resources of thebase station for other communication devices.

For example, suppose the base station detects that the communicationdevice has a slow rate of travel (e.g., 3 mph or near stationary). Undercertain circumstances, the base station may also determine that acurrent location of the communication device places the communicationdevice in a communication range of a particular communication node 1404.The base station may also determine that the slow rate of travel of thecommunication device will maintain the communication device within thecommunication range of the particular communication node 1404 for asufficiently long enough time (another threshold test that can be usedby the base station) to justify redirecting the communication device tothe particular communication node 1404. Once such a determination ismade, the base station can proceed to step 1608 and select thecommunication node 1404 that is in the communication range of thecommunication device for providing communication services thereto.

Accordingly, the selection process performed at step 1608 can be basedon a location of the communication device determined from GPScoordinates provided to the base station by the communication device.The selection process can also be based on a trajectory of travel of thecommunication device, which may be determined from several instances ofGPS coordinates provided by the communication device. In someembodiments, the base station may determine that the trajectory of thecommunication device will eventually place the communication device in acommunication range of a subsequent communication node 1404 neighboringthe communication node selected at step 1608. In this embodiment, thebase station can inform multiple communication nodes 1404 of thistrajectory to enable the communication nodes 1404 coordinate a handoffof communication services provided to the communication device.

Once one or more communication nodes 1404 have been selected at step1608, the base station can proceed to step 1610 where it assigns one ormore spectral segments (e.g., resource blocks) for use by thecommunication device at a first carrier frequency (e.g., 1.9 GHz). It isnot necessary for the first carrier frequency and/or spectral segmentsselected by the base station to be the same as the carrier frequencyand/or spectral segments in use between the base station and thecommunication device. For example, suppose the base station and thecommunication device are utilizing a carrier frequency at 1.9 GHz forwireless communications between each other. The base station can selecta different carrier frequency (e.g., 900 MHz) at step 1610 for thecommunication node selected at step 1608 to communicate with thecommunication device. Similarly, the base station can assign spectralsegment(s) (e.g., resource blocks) and/or a timeslot schedule of thespectral segment(s) to the communication node that differs from thespectral segment(s) and/or timeslot schedule in use between the basestation and the communication device.

At step 1612, the base station can generate first modulated signal(s) inthe spectral segment(s) assigned in step 1610 at the first carrierfrequency. The first modulated signal(s) can include data directed tothe communication device, the data representative of a voicecommunication session, a data communication session, or a combinationthereof. At step 1614, the base station can up-convert (with a mixer,bandpass filter and other circuitry) the first modulated signal(s) atthe first native carrier frequency (e.g., 1.9 GHz) to a second carrierfrequency (e.g., 80 GHz) for transport of such signals in one or morefrequency channels of a downlink spectral segment 1506 which is directedto the communication node 1404 selected at step 1608. Alternatively, thebase station can provide the first modulated signal(s) at the firstcarrier frequency to the first communication node 1404A (illustrated inFIG. 14A) for up-conversion to the second carrier frequency fortransport in one or more frequency channels of a downlink spectralsegment 1506 directed to the communication node 1404 selected at step1608.

At step 1616, the base station can also transmit instructions totransition the communication device to the communication node 1404selected at step 1608. The instructions can be directed to thecommunication device while the communication device is in directcommunications with the base station utilizing the wireless resources ofthe base station. Alternatively, the instructions can be communicated tothe communication node 1404 selected at step 1608 by way of a controlchannel 1502 of the downlink spectral segment 1506 illustrated in FIG.15A. Step 1616 can occur before, after or contemporaneously with steps1612-1614.

Once the instructions have been transmitted, the base station canproceed to step 1618 where it transmits in one or more frequencychannels of a downlink spectral segment 1506 the first modulated signalat the second carrier frequency (e.g., 80 GHz) for transmission by thefirst communication node 1404A (illustrated in FIG. 14A). Alternatively,the first communication node 1404A can perform the up-conversion at step1614 for transport of the first modulated signal at the second carrierfrequency in one or more frequency channels of a downlink spectralsegment 1506 upon receiving from the base station the first modulatedsignal(s) at the first native carrier frequency. The first communicationnode 1404A can serve as a master communication node for distributingdownlink signals generated by the base station to downstreamcommunication nodes 1404 according to the downlink spectral segments1506 assigned to each communication node 1404 at step 1610. Theassignment of the downlink spectral segments 1506 can be provided to thecommunication nodes 1404 by way of instructions transmitted by the firstcommunication node 1404A in the control channel 1502 illustrated in FIG.15A. At step 1618, the communication node 1404 receiving the firstmodulated signal(s) at the second carrier frequency in one or morefrequency channels of a downlink spectral segment 1506 can be configuredto down-convert it to the first carrier frequency, and utilize the pilotsignal supplied with the first modulated signal(s) to remove distortions(e.g., phase distortion) caused by the distribution of the downlinkspectral segments 1506 over communication hops between the communicationnodes 1404B-D. In particular, the pilot signal can be derived from thelocal oscillator signal used to generate the frequency up-conversion(e.g. via frequency multiplication and/or division). When downconversion is required the pilot signal can be used to recreate afrequency and phase correct version of the local oscillator signal (e.g.via frequency multiplication and/or division) to return the modulatedsignal to its original portion of the frequency band with minimal phaseerror. In this fashion, the frequency channels of a communication systemcan be converted in frequency for transport via the distributed antennasystem and then returned to their original position in the spectrum fortransmission to wireless client device.

Once the down-conversion process is completed, the communication node1404 can transmit at step 1622 the first modulated signal at the firstnative carrier frequency (e.g., 1.9 GHz) to the communication deviceutilizing the same spectral segment assigned to the communication node1404. Step 1622 can be coordinated so that it occurs after thecommunication device has transitioned to the communication node 1404 inaccordance with the instructions provided at step 1616. To make such atransition seamless, and so as to avoid interrupting an existingwireless communication session between the base station and thecommunication device, the instructions provided in step 1616 can directthe communication device and/or the communication node 1404 totransition to the assigned spectral segment(s) and/or time slot scheduleas part of and/or subsequent to a registration process between thecommunication device and the communication node 1404 selected at step1608. In some instances such a transition may require that thecommunication device to have concurrent wireless communications with thebase station and the communication node 1404 for a short period of time.

Once the communication device successfully transitions to thecommunication node 1404, the communication device can terminate wirelesscommunications with the base station, and continue the communicationsession by way of the communication node 1404. Termination of wirelessservices between the base station and the communication device makescertain wireless resources of the base station available for use withother communication devices. It should be noted that although the basestation has in the foregoing steps delegated wireless connectivity to aselect communication node 1404, the communication session between basestation and the communication device continues as before by way of thenetwork of communication nodes 1404 illustrated in FIG. 14A. Thedifference is, however, that the base station no longer needs to utilizeits own wireless resources to communicate with the communication device.

In order to provide bidirectional communications between the basestation and the communication device, by way of the network ofcommunication nodes 1404, the communication node 1404 and/or thecommunication device can be instructed to utilize one or more frequencychannels of one or more uplink spectral segments 1510 on the uplinkillustrated in FIG. 15A. Uplink instructions can be provided to thecommunication node 1404 and/or communication device at step 1616 as partof and/or subsequent to the registration process between thecommunication device and the communication node 1404 selected at step1608. Accordingly, when the communication device has data it needs totransmit to the base station, it can wirelessly transmit secondmodulated signal(s) at the first native carrier frequency which can bereceived by the communication node 1404 at step 1624. The secondmodulated signal(s) can be included in one or more frequency channels ofone or more uplink spectral segments 1510 specified in the instructionsprovided to the communication device and/or communication node at step1616.

To convey the second modulated signal(s) to the base station, thecommunication node 1404 can up-convert these signals at step 1626 fromthe first native carrier frequency (e.g., 1.9 GHz) to the second carrierfrequency (e.g., 80 GHz). To enable upstream communication nodes and/orthe base station to remove distortion, the second modulated signal(s) atthe second carrier frequency can be transmitted at step 1628 by thecommunication node 1404 with one or more uplink pilot signals 1508. Oncethe base station receives the second modulated signal(s) at the secondcarrier frequency via communication node 1404A, it can down-convertthese signals at step 1630 from the second carrier frequency to thefirst native carrier frequency to obtain data provided by thecommunication device at step 1632. Alternatively, the firstcommunication node 1404A can perform the down-conversion of the secondmodulated signal(s) at the second carrier frequency to the first nativecarrier frequency and provide the resulting signals to the base station.The base station can then process the second modulated signal(s) at thefirst native carrier frequency to retrieve data provided by thecommunication device in a manner similar or identical to how the basestation would have processed signals from the communication device hadthe base station been in direct wireless communications with thecommunication device.

The foregoing steps method 1600 provide a way for a base station 1402 tomake available wireless resources (e.g., sector antennas, spectrum) forfast moving communication devices and in some embodiments increasebandwidth utilization by redirecting slow moving communication devicesto one or more communication nodes 1404 communicatively coupled to thebase station 1402. For example, suppose a base station 1402 has ten (10)communication nodes 1404 that it can redirect mobile and/or stationarycommunication devices to. Further suppose that the 10 communicationnodes 1404 have substantially non-overlapping communication ranges.

Further suppose, the base station 1402 has set aside certain spectralsegments (e.g., resource blocks 5, 7 and 9) during particular timeslotsand at a particular carrier frequency, which it assigns to all 10communication nodes 1404. During operations, the base station 1402 canbe configured not to utilize resource blocks 5, 7 and 9 during thetimeslot schedule and carrier frequency set aside for the communicationnodes 1404 to avoid interference. As the base station 1402 detects slowmoving or stationary communication devices, it can redirect thecommunication devices to different ones of the 10 communication nodes1404 based on the location of the communication devices. When, forexample, the base station 1402 redirects communications of a particularcommunication device to a particular communication node 1404, the basestation 1402 can up-convert resource blocks 5, 7 and 9 during theassigned timeslots and at the carrier frequency to one or more spectralrange(s) on the downlink (see FIG. 15A) assigned to the communicationnode 1404 in question.

The communication node 1404 in question can also be assigned to one ormore frequency channels of one or more uplink spectral segments 1510 onthe uplink which it can use to redirect communication signals providedby the communication device to the base station 1402. Such communicationsignals can be up-converted by the communication node 1404 according tothe assigned uplink frequency channels in one or more correspondinguplink spectral segments 1510 and transmitted to the base station 1402for processing. The downlink and uplink frequency channel assignmentscan be communicated by the base station 1402 to each communication node1404 by way of a control channel as depicted in FIG. 15A. The foregoingdownlink and uplink assignment process can also be used for the othercommunication nodes 1404 for providing communication services to othercommunication devices redirected by the base station 1402 thereto.

In this illustration, the reuse of resource blocks 5, 7 and 9 during acorresponding timeslot schedule and carrier frequency by the 10communication nodes 1404 can effectively increase bandwidth utilizationby the base station 1402 up to a factor of 10. Although the base station1402 can no longer use resource blocks 5, 7 and 9 it set aside for the10 communication nodes 1404 for wirelessly communicating with othercommunication devices, its ability to redirect communication devices to10 different communication nodes 1404 reusing these resource blockseffectively increases the bandwidth capabilities of the base station1402. Accordingly, method 1600 in certain embodiments can increasebandwidth utilization of a base station 1402 and make availableresources of the base station 1402 for other communication devices.

It will be appreciated that in some embodiments, the base station 1402can be configured to reuse spectral segments assigned to communicationnodes 1404 by selecting one or more sectors of an antenna system of thebase station 1402 that point away from the communication nodes 1404assigned to the same spectral segments. Accordingly, the base station1402 can be configured in some embodiments to avoid reusing certainspectral segments assigned to certain communication nodes 1404 and inother embodiments reuse other spectral segments assigned to othercommunication nodes 1404 by selecting specific sectors of the antennasystem of the base station 1402. Similar concepts can be applied tosectors of the antenna system 1424 employed by the communication nodes1404. Certain reuse schemes can be employed between the base station1402 and one or more communication nodes 1404 based on sectors utilizedby the base station 1402 and/or the one or more communication nodes1404.

Method 1600 also enables the reuse of legacy systems when communicationdevices are redirected to one or more communication nodes. For example,the signaling protocol (e.g., LTE) utilized by the base station towirelessly communicate with the communication device can be preserved inthe communication signals exchanged between the base station and thecommunication nodes 1404. Accordingly, when assigning spectral segmentsto the communication nodes 1404, the exchange of modulated signals inthese segments between the base station and the communication nodes 1404can be the same signals that would have been used by the base station toperform direct wireless communications with the communication device.Thus, legacy base stations can be updated to perform the up anddown-conversion process previously described, with the added feature ofdistortion mitigation, while all other functions performed in hardwareand/or software for processing modulated signals at the first nativecarrier frequency can remain substantially unaltered. It should also benoted that, in further embodiments, channels from an original frequencyband can be converted to another frequency band utilizing by the sameprotocol. For example, LTE channels in the 2.5 GHz band can beup-converted into a 80 GHZ band for transport and then down-converted as5.8 GHz LTE channels if required for spectral diversity.

It is further noted that method 1600 can be adapted without departingfrom the scope of the subject disclosure. For example, when the basestation detects that a communication device has a trajectory that willresult in a transition from the communication range of one communicationnode to another, the base station (or the communication nodes inquestion) can monitor such a trajectory by way of periodic GPScoordinates provided by the communication device, and accordinglycoordinate a handoff of the communication device to the othercommunication node. Method 1600 can also be adapted so that when thecommunication device is near a point of transitioning from thecommunication range of one communication node to another, instructionscan be transmitted by the base station (or the active communicationnode) to direct the communication device and/or the other communicationnode to utilize certain spectral segments and/or timeslots in thedownlink and uplink channels to successfully transition communicationswithout interrupting an existing communication session.

It is further noted that method 1600 can also be adapted to coordinate ahandoff of wireless communications between the communication device anda communication node 1404 back to the base station when the base stationor the active communication node 1404 detects that the communicationdevice will at some point transition outside of a communication range ofthe communication node and no other communication node is in acommunication range of the communication device. Other adaptations ofmethod 1600 are contemplated by the subject disclosure. It is furthernoted that when a carrier frequency of a downlink or uplink spectralsegment is lower than a native frequency band of a modulated signal, areverse process of frequency conversion would be required. That is, whentransporting a modulated signal in a downlink or uplink spectral segmentfrequency down-conversion will be used instead of up-conversion. Andwhen extracting a modulated signal in a downlink or uplink spectralsegment frequency up-conversion will be used instead of down-conversion.Method 1600 can further be adapted to use the clock signal referred toabove for synchronizing the processing of digital data in a controlchannel. Method 1600 can also be adapted to use a reference signal thatis modulated by instructions in the control channel or a clock signalthat is modulated by instructions in the control channel.

Method 1600 can further be adapted to avoid tracking of movement of acommunication device and instead direct multiple communication nodes1404 to transmit the modulated signal of a particular communicationdevice at its native frequency without knowledge of which communicationnode is in a communication range of the particular communication device.Similarly, each communication node can be instructed to receivemodulated signals from the particular communication device and transportsuch signals in certain frequency channels of one or more uplinkspectral segments 1510 without knowledge as to which communication nodewill receive modulated signals from the particular communication device.Such an implementation can help reduce the implementation complexity andcost of the communication nodes 1404.

While for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the respectiveprocesses are shown and described as a series of blocks in FIG. 16A, itis to be understood and appreciated that the claimed subject matter isnot limited by the order of the blocks, as some blocks may occur indifferent orders and/or concurrently with other blocks from what isdepicted and described herein. Moreover, not all illustrated blocks maybe required to implement the methods described herein.

Turning now to FIG. 16B, a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method 1635, is shown. Method 1635 can be used with oneor more functions and features presented in conjunction with FIGS. 1-15.Step 1636 includes receiving, by a system including circuitry, a firstmodulated signal in a first spectral segment directed to a mobilecommunication device, wherein the first modulated signal conforms to asignaling protocol. Step 1637 includes converting, by the system, thefirst modulated signal in the first spectral segment to the firstmodulated signal at a first carrier frequency based on a signalprocessing of the first modulated signal and without modifying thesignaling protocol of the first modulated signal, wherein the firstcarrier frequency is outside the first spectral segment. Step 1638includes transmitting, by the system, a reference signal with the firstmodulated signal at the first carrier frequency to a network element ofa distributed antenna system, the reference signal enabling the networkelement to reduce a phase error when reconverting the first modulatedsignal at the first carrier frequency to the first modulated signal inthe first spectral segment for wireless distribution of the firstmodulated signal to the mobile communication device in the firstspectral segment.

In various embodiments, the signal processing does not require eitheranalog to digital conversion or digital to analog conversion. Thetransmitting can comprise transmitting to the network element the firstmodulated signal at the first carrier frequency as a free space wirelesssignal. The first carrier frequency can be in a millimeter-wavefrequency band.

The first modulated signal can be generated by modulating signals in aplurality of frequency channels according to the signaling protocol togenerate the first modulated signal in the first spectral segment. Thesignaling protocol can comprise a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) wirelessprotocol or a fifth generation cellular communications protocol.

Converting by the system can comprise up-converting the first modulatedsignal in the first spectral segment to the first modulated signal atthe first carrier frequency or down-converting the first modulatedsignal in the first spectral segment to the first modulated signal atthe first carrier frequency. Converting by the network element cancomprises down-converting the first modulated signal at the firstcarrier frequency to the first modulated signal in the first spectralsegment or up-converting the first modulated signal at the first carrierfrequency to the first modulated signal in the first spectral segment.

The method can further include receiving, by the system, a secondmodulated signal at a second carrier frequency from the network element,wherein the mobile communication device generates the second modulatedsignal in a second spectral segment, and wherein the network elementconverts the second modulated signal in the second spectral segment tothe second modulated signal at the second carrier frequency andtransmits the second modulated signal at the second carrier frequency.The method can further include converting, by the system, the secondmodulated signal at the second carrier frequency to the second modulatedsignal in the second spectral segment; and sending, by the system, thesecond modulated signal in the second spectral segment to a base stationfor processing.

The second spectral segment can differ from the first spectral segment,and wherein the first carrier frequency can differ from the secondcarrier frequency. The system can be mounted to a first utility pole andthe network element can be mounted to a second utility pole.

While for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the respectiveprocesses are shown and described as a series of blocks in FIG. 16B, itis to be understood and appreciated that the claimed subject matter isnot limited by the order of the blocks, as some blocks may occur indifferent orders and/or concurrently with other blocks from what isdepicted and described herein. Moreover, not all illustrated blocks maybe required to implement the methods described herein.

Turning now to FIG. 16C, a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method 1640, is shown. Method 1635 can be used with oneor more functions and features presented in conjunction with FIGS. 1-15.Step 1641 include receiving, by a network element of a distributedantenna system, a reference signal and a first modulated signal at afirst carrier frequency, the first modulated signal including firstcommunications data provided by a base station and directed to a mobilecommunication device. Step 1642 includes converting, by the networkelement, the first modulated signal at the first carrier frequency tothe first modulated signal in a first spectral segment based on a signalprocessing of the first modulated signal and utilizing the referencesignal to reduce distortion during the converting. Step 1643 includeswirelessly transmitting, by the network element, the first modulatedsignal at the first spectral segment to the mobile communication device.

In various embodiments the first modulated signal conforms to asignaling protocol, and the signal processing converts the firstmodulated signal in the first spectral segment to the first modulatedsignal at the first carrier frequency without modifying the signalingprotocol of the first modulated signal. The converting by the networkelement can include converting the first modulated signal at the firstcarrier frequency to the first modulated signal in the first spectralsegment without modifying the signaling protocol of the first modulatedsignal. The method can further include receiving, by the networkelement, a second modulated signal in a second spectral segmentgenerated by the mobile communication device, converting, by the networkelement, the second modulated signal in the second spectral segment tothe second modulated signal at a second carrier frequency; andtransmitting, by the network element, to an other network element of thedistributed antenna system the second modulated signal at the secondcarrier frequency. The other network element of the distributed antennasystem can receive the second modulated signal at the second carrierfrequency, converts the second modulated signal at the second carrierfrequency to the second modulated signal in the second spectral segment,and provides the second modulated signal in the second spectral segmentto the base station for processing. The second spectral segment candiffers from the first spectral segment, and the first carrier frequencycan differ from the second carrier frequency.

While for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the respectiveprocesses are shown and described as a series of blocks in FIG. 16C, itis to be understood and appreciated that the claimed subject matter isnot limited by the order of the blocks, as some blocks may occur indifferent orders and/or concurrently with other blocks from what isdepicted and described herein. Moreover, not all illustrated blocks maybe required to implement the methods described herein.

Turning now to FIG. 16D, a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method 1645, is shown. Method 1645 can be used with oneor more functions and features presented in conjunction with FIGS. 1-15.Step 1646 includes receiving, by a system including circuitry, a firstmodulated signal in a first spectral segment directed to a mobilecommunication device, wherein the first modulated signal conforms to asignaling protocol. Step 1647 includes converting, by the system, thefirst modulated signal in the first spectral segment to the firstmodulated signal at a first carrier frequency based on a signalprocessing of the first modulated signal and without modifying thesignaling protocol of the first modulated signal, wherein the firstcarrier frequency is outside the first spectral segment. Step 1648includes transmitting, by the system, instructions in a control channelto direct a network element of the distributed antenna system to convertthe first modulated signal at the first carrier frequency to the firstmodulated signal in the first spectral segment. Step 1649 includestransmitting, by the system, a reference signal with the first modulatedsignal at the first carrier frequency to the network element of adistributed antenna system, the reference signal enabling the networkelement to reduce a phase error when reconverting the first modulatedsignal at the first carrier frequency to the first modulated signal inthe first spectral segment for wireless distribution of the firstmodulated signal to the mobile communication device in the firstspectral segment, wherein the reference signal is transmitted at an outof band frequency relative to the control channel.

In various embodiments, the control channel is transmitted at afrequency adjacent to the first modulated signal at the first carrierfrequency and/or at a frequency adjacent to the reference signal. Thefirst carrier frequency can be in a millimeter-wave frequency band. Thefirst modulated signal can be generated by modulating signals in aplurality of frequency channels according to the signaling protocol togenerate the first modulated signal in the first spectral segment. Thesignaling protocol can comprise a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) wirelessprotocol or a fifth generation cellular communications protocol.

The converting by the system can comprises up-converting the firstmodulated signal in the first spectral segment to the first modulatedsignal at the first carrier frequency or down-converting the firstmodulated signal in the first spectral segment to the first modulatedsignal at the first carrier frequency. The converting by the networkelement can comprise down-converting the first modulated signal at thefirst carrier frequency to the first modulated signal in the firstspectral segment or up-converting the first modulated signal at thefirst carrier frequency to the first modulated signal in the firstspectral segment.

The method can further include receiving, by the system, a secondmodulated signal at a second carrier frequency from the network element,wherein the mobile communication device generates the second modulatedsignal in a second spectral segment, and wherein the network elementconverts the second modulated signal in the second spectral segment tothe second modulated signal at the second carrier frequency andtransmits the second modulated signal at the second carrier frequency.The method can further include converting, by the system, the secondmodulated signal at the second carrier frequency to the second modulatedsignal in the second spectral segment; and sending, by the system, thesecond modulated signal in the second spectral segment to a base stationfor processing.

The second spectral segment can differ from the first spectral segment,and wherein the first carrier frequency can differ from the secondcarrier frequency. The system can be mounted to a first utility pole andthe network element can be mounted to a second utility pole.

While for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the respectiveprocesses are shown and described as a series of blocks in FIG. 16D, itis to be understood and appreciated that the claimed subject matter isnot limited by the order of the blocks, as some blocks may occur indifferent orders and/or concurrently with other blocks from what isdepicted and described herein. Moreover, not all illustrated blocks maybe required to implement the methods described herein.

Turning now to FIG. 16E, a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method 1650, is shown. Method 1650 can be used with oneor more functions and features presented in conjunction with FIGS. 1-15.Step 1651 includes receiving, by a network element of a distributedantenna system, a reference signal, a control channel and a firstmodulated signal at a first carrier frequency, the first modulatedsignal including first communications data provided by a base stationand directed to a mobile communication device, wherein instructions inthe control channel direct the network element of the distributedantenna system to convert the first modulated signal at the firstcarrier frequency to the first modulated signal in a first spectralsegment, wherein the reference signal is received at an out of bandfrequency relative to the control channel. Step 1652 includesconverting, by the network element, the first modulated signal at thefirst carrier frequency to the first modulated signal in the firstspectral segment in accordance with the instructions and based on asignal processing of the first modulated signal and utilizing thereference signal to reduce distortion during the converting. Step 1653includes wirelessly transmitting, by the network element, the firstmodulated signal at the first spectral segment to the mobilecommunication device.

In various embodiments, the control channel can be received at afrequency adjacent to the first modulated signal at the first carrierfrequency and/or adjacent to the reference signal.

While for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the respectiveprocesses are shown and described as a series of blocks in FIG. 16E, itis to be understood and appreciated that the claimed subject matter isnot limited by the order of the blocks, as some blocks may occur indifferent orders and/or concurrently with other blocks from what isdepicted and described herein. Moreover, not all illustrated blocks maybe required to implement the methods described herein.

Turning now to FIG. 16F, a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method 1655, is shown. Method 1655 can be used with oneor more functions and features presented in conjunction with FIGS. 1-15.Step 1656 includes receiving, by a system including circuitry, a firstmodulated signal in a first spectral segment directed to a mobilecommunication device, wherein the first modulated signal conforms to asignaling protocol. Step 1657 includes converting, by the system, thefirst modulated signal in the first spectral segment to the firstmodulated signal at a first carrier frequency based on a signalprocessing of the first modulated signal and without modifying thesignaling protocol of the first modulated signal, wherein the firstcarrier frequency is outside the first spectral segment. Step 1658includes transmitting, by the system, instructions in a control channelto direct a network element of the distributed antenna system to convertthe first modulated signal at the first carrier frequency to the firstmodulated signal in the first spectral segment. Step 1659 includestransmitting, by the system, a reference signal with the first modulatedsignal at the first carrier frequency to the network element of adistributed antenna system, the reference signal enabling the networkelement to reduce a phase error when reconverting the first modulatedsignal at the first carrier frequency to the first modulated signal inthe first spectral segment for wireless distribution of the firstmodulated signal to the mobile communication device in the firstspectral segment, wherein the reference signal is transmitted at anin-band frequency relative to the control channel.

In various embodiments, the instructions are transmitted via modulationof the reference signal. The instructions can be transmitted as digitaldata via an amplitude modulation of the reference signal. The firstcarrier frequency can be in a millimeter-wave frequency band. The firstmodulated signal can be generated by modulating signals in a pluralityof frequency channels according to the signaling protocol to generatethe first modulated signal in the first spectral segment. The signalingprotocol can comprise a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) wireless protocol or afifth generation cellular communications protocol.

The converting by the system can comprises up-converting the firstmodulated signal in the first spectral segment to the first modulatedsignal at the first carrier frequency or down-converting the firstmodulated signal in the first spectral segment to the first modulatedsignal at the first carrier frequency. The converting by the networkelement can comprise down-converting the first modulated signal at thefirst carrier frequency to the first modulated signal in the firstspectral segment or up-converting the first modulated signal at thefirst carrier frequency to the first modulated signal in the firstspectral segment.

The method can further include receiving, by the system, a secondmodulated signal at a second carrier frequency from the network element,wherein the mobile communication device generates the second modulatedsignal in a second spectral segment, and wherein the network elementconverts the second modulated signal in the second spectral segment tothe second modulated signal at the second carrier frequency andtransmits the second modulated signal at the second carrier frequency.The method can further include converting, by the system, the secondmodulated signal at the second carrier frequency to the second modulatedsignal in the second spectral segment; and sending, by the system, thesecond modulated signal in the second spectral segment to a base stationfor processing.

The second spectral segment can differ from the first spectral segment,and wherein the first carrier frequency can differ from the secondcarrier frequency. The system can be mounted to a first utility pole andthe network element can be mounted to a second utility pole.

While for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the respectiveprocesses are shown and described as a series of blocks in FIG. 16F, itis to be understood and appreciated that the claimed subject matter isnot limited by the order of the blocks, as some blocks may occur indifferent orders and/or concurrently with other blocks from what isdepicted and described herein. Moreover, not all illustrated blocks maybe required to implement the methods described herein.

Turning now to FIG. 16G, a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method 1660, is shown. Method 1660 can be used with oneor more functions and features presented in conjunction with FIGS. 1-15.Step 1661 includes receiving, by a network element of a distributedantenna system, a reference signal, a control channel and a firstmodulated signal at a first carrier frequency, the first modulatedsignal including first communications data provided by a base stationand directed to a mobile communication device, wherein instructions inthe control channel direct the network element of the distributedantenna system to convert the first modulated signal at the firstcarrier frequency to the first modulated signal in a first spectralsegment, and wherein the reference signal is received at an in-bandfrequency relative to the control channel. Step 1662 includesconverting, by the network element, the first modulated signal at thefirst carrier frequency to the first modulated signal in the firstspectral segment in accordance with the instructions and based on asignal processing of the first modulated signal and utilizing thereference signal to reduce distortion during the converting. Step 1663includes wirelessly transmitting, by the network element, the firstmodulated signal at the first spectral segment to the mobilecommunication device.

In various embodiments, the instructions are received via demodulationof the reference signal and/or as digital data via an amplitudedemodulation of the reference signal.

While for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the respectiveprocesses are shown and described as a series of blocks in FIG. 16G, itis to be understood and appreciated that the claimed subject matter isnot limited by the order of the blocks, as some blocks may occur indifferent orders and/or concurrently with other blocks from what isdepicted and described herein. Moreover, not all illustrated blocks maybe required to implement the methods described herein.

Turning now to FIG. 16H, a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method 1665, is shown. Method 1665 can be used with oneor more functions and features presented in conjunction with FIGS. 1-15.Step 1666 includes receiving, by a system including circuitry, a firstmodulated signal in a first spectral segment directed to a mobilecommunication device, wherein the first modulated signal conforms to asignaling protocol. Step 1667 includes converting, by the system, thefirst modulated signal in the first spectral segment to the firstmodulated signal at a first carrier frequency based on a signalprocessing of the first modulated signal and without modifying thesignaling protocol of the first modulated signal, wherein the firstcarrier frequency is outside the first spectral segment. Step 1668includes transmitting, by the system, instructions in a control channelto direct a network element of the distributed antenna system to convertthe first modulated signal at the first carrier frequency to the firstmodulated signal in the first spectral segment. Step 1669 includestransmitting, by the system, a clock signal with the first modulatedsignal at the first carrier frequency to the network element of adistributed antenna system, wherein the clock signal synchronizes timingof digital control channel processing of the network element to recoverthe instructions from the control channel.

In various embodiments, the method further includes transmitting, by thesystem, a reference signal with the first modulated signal at the firstcarrier frequency to a network element of a distributed antenna system,the reference signal enabling the network element to reduce a phaseerror when reconverting the first modulated signal at the first carrierfrequency to the first modulated signal in the first spectral segmentfor wireless distribution of the first modulated signal to the mobilecommunication device in the first spectral segment. The instructions canbe transmitted as digital data via the control channel.

In various embodiments, the first carrier frequency can be in amillimeter-wave frequency band. The first modulated signal can begenerated by modulating signals in a plurality of frequency channelsaccording to the signaling protocol to generate the first modulatedsignal in the first spectral segment. The signaling protocol cancomprise a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) wireless protocol or a fifthgeneration cellular communications protocol.

The converting by the system can comprises up-converting the firstmodulated signal in the first spectral segment to the first modulatedsignal at the first carrier frequency or down-converting the firstmodulated signal in the first spectral segment to the first modulatedsignal at the first carrier frequency. The converting by the networkelement can comprise down-converting the first modulated signal at thefirst carrier frequency to the first modulated signal in the firstspectral segment or up-converting the first modulated signal at thefirst carrier frequency to the first modulated signal in the firstspectral segment.

The method can further include receiving, by the system, a secondmodulated signal at a second carrier frequency from the network element,wherein the mobile communication device generates the second modulatedsignal in a second spectral segment, and wherein the network elementconverts the second modulated signal in the second spectral segment tothe second modulated signal at the second carrier frequency andtransmits the second modulated signal at the second carrier frequency.The method can further include converting, by the system, the secondmodulated signal at the second carrier frequency to the second modulatedsignal in the second spectral segment; and sending, by the system, thesecond modulated signal in the second spectral segment to a base stationfor processing.

The second spectral segment can differ from the first spectral segment,and wherein the first carrier frequency can differ from the secondcarrier frequency. The system can be mounted to a first utility pole andthe network element can be mounted to a second utility pole.

While for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the respectiveprocesses are shown and described as a series of blocks in FIG. 16H, itis to be understood and appreciated that the claimed subject matter isnot limited by the order of the blocks, as some blocks may occur indifferent orders and/or concurrently with other blocks from what isdepicted and described herein. Moreover, not all illustrated blocks maybe required to implement the methods described herein.

Turning now to FIG. 16I, a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method 1670, is shown. Method 1670 can be used with oneor more functions and features presented in conjunction with FIGS. 1-15.Step 1671 includes receiving, by a network element of a distributedantenna system, a clock signal, a control channel and a first modulatedsignal at a first carrier frequency, the first modulated signalincluding first communications data provided by a base station anddirected to a mobile communication device, wherein the clock signalsynchronizes timing of digital control channel processing by the networkelement to recover instructions from the control channel, wherein theinstructions in the control channel direct the network element of thedistributed antenna system to convert the first modulated signal at thefirst carrier frequency to the first modulated signal in a firstspectral segment. Step 1672 includes converting, by the network element,the first modulated signal at the first carrier frequency to the firstmodulated signal in the first spectral segment in accordance with theinstructions and based on a signal processing of the first modulatedsignal. Step 1673 includes wirelessly transmitting, by the networkelement, the first modulated signal at the first spectral segment to themobile communication device. In various embodiments, the instructionsare received as digital data via the control channel.

While for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the respectiveprocesses are shown and described as a series of blocks in FIG. 16I, itis to be understood and appreciated that the claimed subject matter isnot limited by the order of the blocks, as some blocks may occur indifferent orders and/or concurrently with other blocks from what isdepicted and described herein. Moreover, not all illustrated blocks maybe required to implement the methods described herein.

Turning now to FIG. 16J, a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method 1675, is shown. Method 1675 can be used with oneor more functions and features presented in conjunction with FIGS. 1-15.Step 1676 includes receiving, by a system including circuitry, a firstmodulated signal in a first spectral segment directed to a mobilecommunication device, wherein the first modulated signal conforms to asignaling protocol. Step 1677 includes converting, by the system, thefirst modulated signal in the first spectral segment to the firstmodulated signal at a first carrier frequency based on a signalprocessing of the first modulated signal and without modifying thesignaling protocol of the first modulated signal, wherein the firstcarrier frequency is outside the first spectral segment. Step 1678includes transmitting, by the system, instructions in an ultra-widebandcontrol channel to direct a network element of the distributed antennasystem to convert the first modulated signal at the first carrierfrequency to the first modulated signal in the first spectral segment.Step 1659 includes transmitting, by the system, a reference signal withthe first modulated signal at the first carrier frequency to the networkelement of a distributed antenna system, the reference signal enablingthe network element to reduce a phase error when reconverting the firstmodulated signal at the first carrier frequency to the first modulatedsignal in the first spectral segment for wireless distribution of thefirst modulated signal to the mobile communication device in the firstspectral segment.

In various embodiments, wherein the first reference signal istransmitted at an in-band frequency relative to the ultra-widebandcontrol channel. The method can further include receiving, via theultra-wideband control channel from the network element of a distributedantenna system, control channel data that includes include: statusinformation that indicates network status of the network element,network device information that indicates device information of thenetwork element or an environmental measurement indicating anenvironmental condition in proximity to the network element. Theinstructions can further include a channel spacing, a guard bandparameter, an uplink/downlink allocation, or an uplink channelselection.

The first modulated signal can be generated by modulating signals in aplurality of frequency channels according to the signaling protocol togenerate the first modulated signal in the first spectral segment. Thesignaling protocol can comprise a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) wirelessprotocol or a fifth generation cellular communications protocol.

The converting by the system can comprises up-converting the firstmodulated signal in the first spectral segment to the first modulatedsignal at the first carrier frequency or down-converting the firstmodulated signal in the first spectral segment to the first modulatedsignal at the first carrier frequency. The converting by the networkelement can comprise down-converting the first modulated signal at thefirst carrier frequency to the first modulated signal in the firstspectral segment or up-converting the first modulated signal at thefirst carrier frequency to the first modulated signal in the firstspectral segment.

The method can further include receiving, by the system, a secondmodulated signal at a second carrier frequency from the network element,wherein the mobile communication device generates the second modulatedsignal in a second spectral segment, and wherein the network elementconverts the second modulated signal in the second spectral segment tothe second modulated signal at the second carrier frequency andtransmits the second modulated signal at the second carrier frequency.The method can further include converting, by the system, the secondmodulated signal at the second carrier frequency to the second modulatedsignal in the second spectral segment; and sending, by the system, thesecond modulated signal in the second spectral segment to a base stationfor processing.

The second spectral segment can differ from the first spectral segment,and wherein the first carrier frequency can differ from the secondcarrier frequency. The system can be mounted to a first utility pole andthe network element can be mounted to a second utility pole.

While for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the respectiveprocesses are shown and described as a series of blocks in FIG. 16J, itis to be understood and appreciated that the claimed subject matter isnot limited by the order of the blocks, as some blocks may occur indifferent orders and/or concurrently with other blocks from what isdepicted and described herein. Moreover, not all illustrated blocks maybe required to implement the methods described herein.

Turning now to FIG. 16K, a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method 1680, is shown. Method 1680 can be used with oneor more functions and features presented in conjunction with FIGS. 1-15.Step 1681 includes receiving, by a network element of a distributedantenna system, a reference signal, an ultra-wideband control channeland a first modulated signal at a first carrier frequency, the firstmodulated signal including first communications data provided by a basestation and directed to a mobile communication device, whereininstructions in the ultra-wideband control channel direct the networkelement of the distributed antenna system to convert the first modulatedsignal at the first carrier frequency to the first modulated signal in afirst spectral segment, and wherein the reference signal is received atan in-band frequency relative to the control channel. Step 1682 includesconverting, by the network element, the first modulated signal at thefirst carrier frequency to the first modulated signal in the firstspectral segment in accordance with the instructions and based on asignal processing of the first modulated signal and utilizing thereference signal to reduce distortion during the converting. Step 1683includes wirelessly transmitting, by the network element, the firstmodulated signal at the first spectral segment to the mobilecommunication device.

In various embodiments, wherein the first reference signal is receivedat an in-band frequency relative to the ultra-wideband control channel.The method can further include transmitting, via the ultra-widebandcontrol channel from the network element of a distributed antennasystem, control channel data that includes include: status informationthat indicates network status of the network element, network deviceinformation that indicates device information of the network element oran environmental measurement indicating an environmental condition inproximity to the network element. The instructions can further include achannel spacing, a guard band parameter, an uplink/downlink allocation,or an uplink channel selection.

While for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the respectiveprocesses are shown and described as a series of blocks in FIG. 16K, itis to be understood and appreciated that the claimed subject matter isnot limited by the order of the blocks, as some blocks may occur indifferent orders and/or concurrently with other blocks from what isdepicted and described herein. Moreover, not all illustrated blocks maybe required to implement the methods described herein.

In the subject specification, terms such as “store,” “storage,” “datastore,” data storage,” “database,” and substantially any otherinformation storage component relevant to operation and functionality ofa component, refer to “memory components,” or entities embodied in a“memory” or components comprising the memory. It will be appreciatedthat the memory components described herein can be either volatilememory or nonvolatile memory, or can include both volatile andnonvolatile memory, by way of illustration, and not limitation, volatilememory 1320 (see below), non-volatile memory 1322 (see below), diskstorage 1324 (see below), and memory storage 1346 (see below). Further,nonvolatile memory can be included in read only memory (ROM),programmable ROM (PROM), electrically programmable ROM (EPROM),electrically erasable ROM (EEPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memory caninclude random access memory (RAM), which acts as external cache memory.By way of illustration and not limitation, RAM is available in manyforms such as synchronous RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronousDRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM(ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct Rambus RAM (DRRAM).Additionally, the disclosed memory components of systems or methodsherein are intended to comprise, without being limited to comprising,these and any other suitable types of memory.

Moreover, it will be noted that the disclosed subject matter can bepracticed with other computer system configurations, includingsingle-processor or multiprocessor computer systems, mini-computingdevices, mainframe computers, as well as personal computers, hand-heldcomputing devices (e.g., PDA, phone, watch, tablet computers, netbookcomputers, . . . ), microprocessor-based or programmable consumer orindustrial electronics, and the like. The illustrated aspects can alsobe practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks areperformed by remote processing devices that are linked through acommunications network; however, some if not all aspects of the subjectdisclosure can be practiced on stand-alone computers. In a distributedcomputing environment, program modules can be located in both local andremote memory storage devices.

The embodiments described herein can employ artificial intelligence (AI)to facilitate automating one or more features described herein. Theembodiments (e.g., in connection with automatically identifying acquiredcell sites that provide a maximum value/benefit after addition to anexisting communication network) can employ various AI-based schemes forcarrying out various embodiments thereof. Moreover, the classifier canbe employed to determine a ranking or priority of the each cell site ofthe acquired network. A classifier is a function that maps an inputattribute vector, x=(x1, x2, x3, x4, . . . , xn), to a confidence thatthe input belongs to a class, that is, f(x)=confidence(class). Suchclassification can employ a probabilistic and/or statistical-basedanalysis (e.g., factoring into the analysis utilities and costs) toprognose or infer an action that a user desires to be automaticallyperformed. A support vector machine (SVM) is an example of a classifierthat can be employed. The SVM operates by finding a hypersurface in thespace of possible inputs, which the hypersurface attempts to split thetriggering criteria from the non-triggering events. Intuitively, thismakes the classification correct for testing data that is near, but notidentical to training data. Other directed and undirected modelclassification approaches include, e.g., naïve Bayes, Bayesian networks,decision trees, neural networks, fuzzy logic models, and probabilisticclassification models providing different patterns of independence canbe employed. Classification as used herein also is inclusive ofstatistical regression that is utilized to develop models of priority.

As will be readily appreciated, one or more of the embodiments canemploy classifiers that are explicitly trained (e.g., via a generictraining data) as well as implicitly trained (e.g., via observing UEbehavior, operator preferences, historical information, receivingextrinsic information). For example, SVMs can be configured via alearning or training phase within a classifier constructor and featureselection module. Thus, the classifier(s) can be used to automaticallylearn and perform a number of functions, including but not limited todetermining according to a predetermined criteria which of the acquiredcell sites will benefit a maximum number of subscribers and/or which ofthe acquired cell sites will add minimum value to the existingcommunication network coverage, etc.

As used in this application, in some embodiments, the terms “component,”“system” and the like are intended to refer to, or include, acomputer-related entity or an entity related to an operational apparatuswith one or more specific functionalities, wherein the entity can beeither hardware, a combination of hardware and software, software, orsoftware in execution. As an example, a component may be, but is notlimited to being, a process running on a processor, a processor, anobject, an executable, a thread of execution, computer-executableinstructions, a program, and/or a computer. By way of illustration andnot limitation, both an application running on a server and the servercan be a component. One or more components may reside within a processand/or thread of execution and a component may be localized on onecomputer and/or distributed between two or more computers. In addition,these components can execute from various computer readable media havingvarious data structures stored thereon. The components may communicatevia local and/or remote processes such as in accordance with a signalhaving one or more data packets (e.g., data from one componentinteracting with another component in a local system, distributedsystem, and/or across a network such as the Internet with other systemsvia the signal). As another example, a component can be an apparatuswith specific functionality provided by mechanical parts operated byelectric or electronic circuitry, which is operated by a software orfirmware application executed by a processor, wherein the processor canbe internal or external to the apparatus and executes at least a part ofthe software or firmware application. As yet another example, acomponent can be an apparatus that provides specific functionalitythrough electronic components without mechanical parts, the electroniccomponents can include a processor therein to execute software orfirmware that confers at least in part the functionality of theelectronic components. While various components have been illustrated asseparate components, it will be appreciated that multiple components canbe implemented as a single component, or a single component can beimplemented as multiple components, without departing from exampleembodiments.

Further, the various embodiments can be implemented as a method,apparatus or article of manufacture using standard programming and/orengineering techniques to produce software, firmware, hardware or anycombination thereof to control a computer to implement the disclosedsubject matter. The term “article of manufacture” as used herein isintended to encompass a computer program accessible from anycomputer-readable device or computer-readable storage/communicationsmedia. For example, computer readable storage media can include, but arenot limited to, magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk,magnetic strips), optical disks (e.g., compact disk (CD), digitalversatile disk (DVD)), smart cards, and flash memory devices (e.g.,card, stick, key drive). Of course, those skilled in the art willrecognize many modifications can be made to this configuration withoutdeparting from the scope or spirit of the various embodiments.

In addition, the words “example” and “exemplary” are used herein to meanserving as an instance or illustration. Any embodiment or designdescribed herein as “example” or “exemplary” is not necessarily to beconstrued as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments ordesigns. Rather, use of the word example or exemplary is intended topresent concepts in a concrete fashion. As used in this application, theterm “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” rather than an exclusive“or”. That is, unless specified otherwise or clear from context, “Xemploys A or B” is intended to mean any of the natural inclusivepermutations. That is, if X employs A; X employs B; or X employs both Aand B, then “X employs A or B” is satisfied under any of the foregoinginstances. In addition, the articles “a” and “an” as used in thisapplication and the appended claims should generally be construed tomean “one or more” unless specified otherwise or clear from context tobe directed to a singular form.

Moreover, terms such as “user equipment,” “mobile station,” “mobile,”subscriber station,” “access terminal,” “terminal,” “handset,” “mobiledevice” (and/or terms representing similar terminology) can refer to awireless device utilized by a subscriber or user of a wirelesscommunication service to receive or convey data, control, voice, video,sound, gaming or substantially any data-stream or signaling-stream. Theforegoing terms are utilized interchangeably herein and with referenceto the related drawings.

Furthermore, the terms “user,” “subscriber,” “customer,” “consumer” andthe like are employed interchangeably throughout, unless contextwarrants particular distinctions among the terms. It should beappreciated that such terms can refer to human entities or automatedcomponents supported through artificial intelligence (e.g., a capacityto make inference based, at least, on complex mathematical formalisms),which can provide simulated vision, sound recognition and so forth.

As employed herein, the term “processor” can refer to substantially anycomputing processing unit or device comprising, but not limited tocomprising, single-core processors; single-processors with softwaremultithread execution capability; multi-core processors; multi-coreprocessors with software multithread execution capability; multi-coreprocessors with hardware multithread technology; parallel platforms; andparallel platforms with distributed shared memory. Additionally, aprocessor can refer to an integrated circuit, an application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), a digital signal processor (DSP), a fieldprogrammable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic controller (PLC), acomplex programmable logic device (CPLD), a discrete gate or transistorlogic, discrete hardware components or any combination thereof designedto perform the functions described herein. Processors can exploitnano-scale architectures such as, but not limited to, molecular andquantum-dot based transistors, switches and gates, in order to optimizespace usage or enhance performance of user equipment. A processor canalso be implemented as a combination of computing processing units.

As used herein, terms such as “data storage,” data storage,” “database,”and substantially any other information storage component relevant tooperation and functionality of a component, refer to “memorycomponents,” or entities embodied in a “memory” or components comprisingthe memory. It will be appreciated that the memory components orcomputer-readable storage media, described herein can be either volatilememory or nonvolatile memory or can include both volatile andnonvolatile memory.

Memory disclosed herein can include volatile memory or nonvolatilememory or can include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. By way ofillustration, and not limitation, nonvolatile memory can include readonly memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), electrically programmableROM (EPROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM) or flash memory.Volatile memory can include random access memory (RAM), which acts asexternal cache memory. By way of illustration and not limitation, RAM isavailable in many forms such as static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM),synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhancedSDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct Rambus RAM (DRRAM).The memory (e.g., data storages, databases) of the embodiments areintended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any othersuitable types of memory.

What has been described above includes mere examples of variousembodiments. It is, of course, not possible to describe everyconceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes ofdescribing these examples, but one of ordinary skill in the art canrecognize that many further combinations and permutations of the presentembodiments are possible. Accordingly, the embodiments disclosed and/orclaimed herein are intended to embrace all such alterations,modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope ofthe appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent that the term “includes”is used in either the detailed description or the claims, such term isintended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as“comprising” is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in aclaim.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system, comprising: an antenna; andcommunication circuitry that facilitates operations, comprising:receiving, by the antenna, a first wireless signal including a firstmodulated signal in a first spectral segment, the first modulated signalmodulated according to a signaling protocol; converting the firstwireless signal to a first electronic signal including the firstmodulated signal in the first spectral segment; frequency converting thefirst electronic signal to generate an updated first electronic signal,the updated first electronic signal comprising the first modulatedsignal frequency-shifted from the first spectral segment to a firstcarrier frequency without modifying the signaling protocol of the firstmodulated signal, the first carrier frequency not overlapping infrequency with the first spectral segment; and converting the updatedfirst electronic signal into a second wireless signal that includes areference signal and the first modulated signal at the first carrierfrequency, the second wireless signal being received by a networkelement of a distributed antenna system, and the reference signalenabling the network element to reduce signal distortion whenreconverting the first modulated signal at the first carrier frequencyto the first modulated signal in a second spectral segment.
 2. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the frequency converting further comprisesfrequency shifting the reference signal.
 3. The system of claim 1,wherein the second wireless signal further includes a control channelcomprising instructions directing the network element of the distributedantenna system to reconvert the first modulated signal at the firstcarrier frequency to the first modulated signal in the second spectralsegment.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the reference signal ismodulated with instructions of a control channel.
 5. The system of claim1, wherein the second wireless signal further includes a controlchannel, and wherein the reference signal is modulated with a clocksignal utilized by the network element to receive instructions in thecontrol channel.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the second spectralsegment is at least substantially similar to the first spectral segment.7. The system of claim 1, wherein the signaling protocol comprises aLong-Term Evolution (LTE) wireless protocol or a fifth generationcellular communications protocol.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein thefrequency converting comprises up-converting the first modulated signalin the first spectral segment to the first modulated signal at the firstcarrier frequency.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein the reconverting bythe network element comprises down-converting the first modulated signalat the first carrier frequency to the first modulated signal in thesecond spectral segment.
 10. The system of claim 1, wherein thefrequency converting comprises down-converting the first modulatedsignal in the first spectral segment to the first modulated signal atthe first carrier frequency.
 11. The system of claim 1, wherein thereconverting by the network element comprises up-converting the firstmodulated signal at the first carrier frequency to the first modulatedsignal in the second spectral segment.
 12. The system of claim 1,wherein the operations further comprise: receiving from the networkelement a third wireless signal in a second carrier frequency, the thirdwireless signal including a second modulated signal modulated conformingto the signaling protocol, wherein a mobile communication devicegenerates the second modulated signal in a third spectral segment, andwherein the network element facilitates frequency converting the secondmodulated signal in the third spectral segment to the second modulatedsignal at the second carrier frequency and transmits the third wirelesssignal including the second modulated signal in the second carrierfrequency; converting the third wireless signal to a second electronicsignal including the second modulated signal in the second carrierfrequency; frequency converting the second electronic signal to generatean updated second electronic signal that shifts the second modulatedsignal in the second carrier frequency to a fourth spectral segmentwithout modifying the signaling protocol of the second modulated signal,the second carrier frequency not overlapping in frequency with thefourth spectral segment; and sending the updated second electronicsignal including the second modulated signal in the fourth spectralsegment to a base station.
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein thefourth spectral segment is at least substantially similar to the thirdspectral segment.
 14. A method, comprising: receiving, by an antennasystem of a first network element of a distributed antenna system, afirst wireless signal including a modulated signal in a first spectralsegment, the first wireless signal generated by a mobile communicationdevice, and the modulated signal conforming to a signaling protocol;converting, by the first network element, the first wireless signal toan electronic signal including the modulated signal in the firstspectral segment; frequency converting, by the first network element,the electronic signal to generate an updated electronic signal, theupdated electronic signal comprising the modulated signalfrequency-shifted from the first spectral segment to a carrier frequencywithout modifying the signaling protocol of the modulated signal, thecarrier frequency not overlapping in frequency with the first spectralsegment; and converting, by the antenna system of the first networkelement, the updated electronic signal into a second wireless signalthat includes a reference signal and the modulated signal at the carrierfrequency, the second wireless signal being received by a second networkelement of the distributed antenna system, the reference signal enablingthe second network element to reduce signal distortion when reconvertingthe modulated signal at the carrier frequency to the modulated signal ina second spectral segment.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein thefrequency converting comprises up-converting, by the first networkelement, the modulated signal in the first spectral segment to themodulated signal at the carrier frequency, and wherein the reconvertingby the second network element comprises down-converting the modulatedsignal at the carrier frequency to the modulated signal in the secondspectral segment.
 16. The method of claim 14, wherein the frequencyconverting comprises down-converting, by the first network element, themodulated signal in the first spectral segment to the modulated signalat the carrier frequency, and wherein the reconverting by the secondnetwork element comprises up-converting the modulated signal at thecarrier frequency to the modulated signal in the second spectralsegment.
 17. The method of claim 14, wherein the second wireless signalfurther includes a control channel comprising instructions directing thesecond network element of the distributed antenna system to reconvertthe modulated signal at the carrier frequency to the modulated signal inthe second spectral segment, and wherein the reference signal ismodulated with the instructions in the control channel.
 18. The methodof claim 14, wherein the second spectral segment is at leastsubstantially similar to the first spectral segment.
 19. A first networkelement of a distributed antenna system, comprising: an antenna system;communication circuitry that facilitates operations, comprising:receiving, by the antenna system, a first wireless signal in a carrierfrequency from a second network element of the distributed antennasystem, the first wireless signal including a reference signal and amodulated signal at the carrier frequency; and transmitting, by theantenna system, a second wireless signal in the carrier frequency, thesecond wireless signal being received by a third network element of thedistributed antenna system, the second wireless signal including thereference signal and the modulated signal in the carrier frequency, thesecond wireless signal corresponding to a retransmission of thereference signal and the modulated signal at the carrier frequency, thereference signal enabling the third network element to reduce signaldistortion when reconverting the modulated signal at the carrierfrequency to the modulated signal in a spectral segment, the carrierfrequency not overlapping in frequency with the spectral segment. 20.The first network element of claim 19, wherein the first wireless signalfurther includes a control channel comprising instructions that directthe first network element to retransmit the reference signal and themodulated signal in the carrier frequency to the third network element.